Objective
Speeding up the maturity timing of flowers and having more flowers on commercial ornamental plants will make them more marketable and help flower growers produce more potted flower plants per year. The focus of this study was to assess the effects of a natural humic product from Huma® called Micromate on the speed of maturity and number of flowers for petunias.
Materials & Methods
Soil-less growing media (80% peat, 20% perlite with pH 5.5) was placed in 6-inch pots, after which 4-week-old petunia “Picobella Blue” seedlings were transplanted into them. Beginning one day after transplanting, four different treatments were applied weekly to the seedlings as a 150 mL drench. Each treatment included 12 pots (Table 1). The experimental design was a randomized complete block set up.
Table 1. Amount of MicroMate Applied to petunias
Results
The Huma® MicroMate humic liquid suspension enhanced the maturity rate and increased the number of flowers on petunia plants (Photo 1). Generally, higher amounts of MicroMate contributed to faster maturity and a larger number of flowers in petunia. MicroMate applied at 40 g/L sped up flowering the most (6 days sooner) and produced the largest average number of flowers (13). See Table 2.
Table 2. Effects of MicroMate on time of maturity and number of petunia flowers
Conclusions
The average number of flowers on petunia plants can be doubled by adding a humic substance such as Huma® MicroMate to the growing medium.
Product Description
Huma® MicroMate employs a unique micronizing technology and is designed for suspension in a liquid to deliver the maximum possible concentration of humic and fulvic acids, plus a clay/mineral suspension agent. Huma® MicroMate uses the advantage of its tremendous surface area to more readily improve plants and soil. Huma® MicroMate is non-toxic and safe to handle. The product’s natural pH of 3.7 enables it to be safely used in all types of agriculture and horticulture settings.
