Klo$etBreeder
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Vitamins
In Grow Store 101 we discussed the “short list” of vitamins and minerals that humans need to survive, and I compared this to the “short list” of micro- and macronutrients that plants need. So what about vitamins for plants? You might already be aware that vitamin products exist, but without knowing what they have been found to do, you will not necessarily be able to maximize their potential benefits. It is not necessarily as easy as picking a “vitamin product” off the grow store shelf and calling it a do-all vitamin supplement. Various vitamin compounds have been shown to induce different plant responses, and we will soon see that “plant vitamin science” is still, more or less, a work in progress.
Vitamin B (Thiamine): The most common vitamin type found in hydroponics products, vitamin B is an ingredient within various supplements designed to increase root growth, as well as to reduce plant stress and transplant shock. Vitamin B is one of the most confidently used vitamins in the hydroponics industry, so a grower may be amazed to learn that a University of Colorado State publication has effectively attempted to debunk what it calls a “gardening myth.”
As it goes, back in the 1930s there was a study done by James Bonner on isolated pea roots cut from their growing medium. The roots were placed in culture with thiamine present and such a dramatic response was observed that Bonner concluded that thiamine was “essential to the growth of pea root.” What Robert Cox points out in his brief debunk sheet was that thiamine is normally produced in the leaves of the plant and transported to the root. In the absence of a plant system, where the roots have been removed, they will respond and continue to grow with exogenous applications of thiamine. In normal circumstances, he concludes, where vitamin B has been tested on intact production crops such as corn, tomatoes, beans, pepper, and watermelon, among others; there is no evidence it provides any type of growth response. Researchers at the University of California concluded the same, noting there was “no discernible differences in color or vigor among treatments.”
Vitamin C: Lets look at a vitamin that most people have never even imagined giving to a plant. If you do not recall ever reading vitamin C as an ingredient on any bottle of plant food or supplements, you are not alone. Yet, lo and behold, not only have researchers found that plants respond to vitamin C, they even go so far as claiming it is essential for plant growth! Now, before you get too excited, let’s first note that the scientists at Britain’s University of Exeter are not endorsing pipe dreams—they are not saying feed your plants vitamin C, but they are stating that plants contain gene coding for the production of an enzyme called ‘GDP-L-galactose phosphorylase’ that endogenously produces vitamin C at particular stages of a plant’s growth.
So is there any reason to seek a plant vitamin supplement that contains vitamin C? Some researchers at the University of California may think so, since they have reported an increase of photosynthetic response as well as production of various bio-chemicals when a plant’s enzymes, called dehydroascorbate reductase, were manipulated to create higher concentrations of vitamin C in leaves. If manipulating plant enzymes is not your thing, Synnöve v. Hausen published a study in Nature showing that 40 mg of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) added to a sterile liquid growing medium increased the dry weight of the treated plants over that of the control plants by 35–75%.
Vitamin D: Another vitamin that is synthesized naturally within plants, vitamin D has been shown to produce growth responses in plants, promote adventitious root growth, and is a critical player in the absorption of Calcium to plant stems. Compared in function to the rooting hormones IBA and NAA, Buchala and Shmid published a paper in July 1979 suggesting vitamin D and its analogs should be a new class of growth simulators affecting root development.
Vitamins
In Grow Store 101 we discussed the “short list” of vitamins and minerals that humans need to survive, and I compared this to the “short list” of micro- and macronutrients that plants need. So what about vitamins for plants? You might already be aware that vitamin products exist, but without knowing what they have been found to do, you will not necessarily be able to maximize their potential benefits. It is not necessarily as easy as picking a “vitamin product” off the grow store shelf and calling it a do-all vitamin supplement. Various vitamin compounds have been shown to induce different plant responses, and we will soon see that “plant vitamin science” is still, more or less, a work in progress.
Vitamin B (Thiamine): The most common vitamin type found in hydroponics products, vitamin B is an ingredient within various supplements designed to increase root growth, as well as to reduce plant stress and transplant shock. Vitamin B is one of the most confidently used vitamins in the hydroponics industry, so a grower may be amazed to learn that a University of Colorado State publication has effectively attempted to debunk what it calls a “gardening myth.”
As it goes, back in the 1930s there was a study done by James Bonner on isolated pea roots cut from their growing medium. The roots were placed in culture with thiamine present and such a dramatic response was observed that Bonner concluded that thiamine was “essential to the growth of pea root.” What Robert Cox points out in his brief debunk sheet was that thiamine is normally produced in the leaves of the plant and transported to the root. In the absence of a plant system, where the roots have been removed, they will respond and continue to grow with exogenous applications of thiamine. In normal circumstances, he concludes, where vitamin B has been tested on intact production crops such as corn, tomatoes, beans, pepper, and watermelon, among others; there is no evidence it provides any type of growth response. Researchers at the University of California concluded the same, noting there was “no discernible differences in color or vigor among treatments.”
Vitamin C: Lets look at a vitamin that most people have never even imagined giving to a plant. If you do not recall ever reading vitamin C as an ingredient on any bottle of plant food or supplements, you are not alone. Yet, lo and behold, not only have researchers found that plants respond to vitamin C, they even go so far as claiming it is essential for plant growth! Now, before you get too excited, let’s first note that the scientists at Britain’s University of Exeter are not endorsing pipe dreams—they are not saying feed your plants vitamin C, but they are stating that plants contain gene coding for the production of an enzyme called ‘GDP-L-galactose phosphorylase’ that endogenously produces vitamin C at particular stages of a plant’s growth.
So is there any reason to seek a plant vitamin supplement that contains vitamin C? Some researchers at the University of California may think so, since they have reported an increase of photosynthetic response as well as production of various bio-chemicals when a plant’s enzymes, called dehydroascorbate reductase, were manipulated to create higher concentrations of vitamin C in leaves. If manipulating plant enzymes is not your thing, Synnöve v. Hausen published a study in Nature showing that 40 mg of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) added to a sterile liquid growing medium increased the dry weight of the treated plants over that of the control plants by 35–75%.
Vitamin D: Another vitamin that is synthesized naturally within plants, vitamin D has been shown to produce growth responses in plants, promote adventitious root growth, and is a critical player in the absorption of Calcium to plant stems. Compared in function to the rooting hormones IBA and NAA, Buchala and Shmid published a paper in July 1979 suggesting vitamin D and its analogs should be a new class of growth simulators affecting root development.
