Winter greenhouse vegetable production enhanced by the brown seaweed extracts

Abstract

Owing to the content of hormones, vitamins and enzymes, brown algae extract, Ascophyllum nodosum L. (ANE) has plant growth promoting effect despite the small content of the major plant nutrients (N, P, K etc.). In addition, due to its natural content of physiologically active substances, ANE can alleviate the effects of stress in treated plants. This may have a particularly great importance for the winter production of vegetables in greenhouses in which the soil is usually highly saturated with nutrients. In order to determine the plant growth promoting effects of three different ANE, the experiment was conducted in the greenhouse of the Institute of vegetable crops in Smederevska Palanka, Serbia, on the vertisol soil type. The low-temperature tolerant species radish (Raphanus sativus var. radicula L.), spinach (Spinacia olerace L.) and garlic (Allium sativum L.) were sown in late autumn and treated with three different ANE. Plant height, plant mass, the number of leaves per plant and yield were measured. Comparing to untreated plants, examined traits on radish treated with ANE were not significantly different. However, ANE enhanced the plant mass and yields of spinach and onion. The application of ANE for vegetable cultivation in greenhouses during the winter can be recommended for conventional as well as for organic production systems.