What are the effects of humic acid on plants?
Humic acid is a mixture of natural organic macromolecular compounds. It exists widely in nature, has high compatibility and powerful functions.
1. Humic acid improves the cold resistance of crops
Humic acid can promote the accumulation of soluble sugar in plants. The increase in sugar content not only means that the quality is improved, but also the osmotic pressure of plant cells will be correspondingly increased and the freezing point will be lowered, which helps to improve the cold resistance of plants.
2. Humic acid improves the drought resistance of crops
Spraying humic acids outside the roots can effectively reduce the stomata opening of the leaves and reduce water transpiration, which is conducive to maintaining more water in the soil and plants. At the same time, humic acid can also promote the development of root system, improve root system vitality, and help crops absorb more water and nutrients from the soil. The two complement each other, open source and reduce expenditure, thereby improving the early resistance of plants.
3. Humic acid improves the waterlogging resistance of crops
The oxidation-reduction system of humic acid itself promotes the respiratory function of plants, which makes plants more resistant to the difficulty of root hypoxia caused by flooding, thereby enhancing the resistance of plants to waterlogging.
4. Humic acid has a good inhibitory effect on certain plant viruses
The application of humic acid has an effect of more than 85% in the prevention and treatment of cotton blight, verticillium wilt, downy mildew, root rot of certain crops, and virus diseases of bell peppers. Therefore, in a sense, humic acid also has the effect of some pesticides. Although its mechanism of action needs to be further studied, the non-toxic and no side effects of humic acid are beyond the reach of many other pesticides.
5. Humic acid helps to improve the crop's own anti-adversity and anti-aging ability
The main function of superoxide dismutase (SOD) is to scavenge superoxide free radicals, prevent cell membrane damage, and maintain membrane stability and permeability; the activity of nitrate reductase (NR) is directly related to nitrogen metabolism. The activities of the two directly affect the resistance and anti-aging ability of plants. Research by Xue Shichuan et al. showed that humic acid can not only significantly promote the absorption of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium by plants, but also effectively improve the activities of SOD and NR in plants. Therefore, humic acid helps to improve the crop's own ability to resist adversity and aging.
6. Humic acid can reduce the damage of pesticides and other toxic substances to plants
Humic acid is a multifunctional hydrophilic colloid with good surface activity, adsorption and adhesion, which can regulate the absorption of nutrients by plants, and can reduce the damage of pesticides and other toxic substances to plants.