Andy's Advice:Understanding Plant Growth Regulators

摘要

For a long time, plant growth regulators have been used to manipulate the growth of plants. You may ask, why do they affect plant growth? The answer is there are many naturally occurring growth regulators that signal to the plant various processes, such as sprouting or stem elongation or tuber initiation. When we apply some type of plant growth hormone (I will refer to these as plant growth regulators) at extremely low rates we can manipulate plant growth. One of the most common regulators used by potato growers is gibberellic acid, often referred to briefly as GA or Gibb. For example, gibberellic acid is used to encourage more rapid sprouting andincrease stem number which in turn adds to tuber count and decreases tuber size. Other plant growth regulators are used to adjust stem elongation or tuber initiation, manipulate stem number, or influence tuber shape. When applications are too high, thiscan lead to undesired results such as overgrowth, too many tubers or even plant injury or death. Herbicides such as 2,4-D or dicamba act as a plant growth hormone. These herbicides used at extremely low rates can manipulate plant growth, but at higher doses they can cause plant death. The reason they work as herbicides is because they remain active in the plant much longer than natural hormones.