Abstract
Kelpak® – a liquid seaweed concentrate made from the kelp Ecklonia maxima (Osbeck) Papenfuss – is used as a natural biostimulant to promote rooting and improve yield in crops. Plant–soil environmental conditions and the chemistry of water used for irrigation may affect the efficiency of Kelpak. The effect of pH (pH 4.5, 6.5 and 8.5) and water hardness (200 mg/L and 400 mg/L Ca2+) on the growth-promoting ability of Kelpak was assessed using the mungbean rooting bioassay and in a pot trial with Swiss chard. Kelpak promoted rooting in all the treatments in the mungbean bioassay with maximum rooting generally achieved with 20% Kelpak. With 20% Kelpak, the addition of 200 mg/L and 400 mg/L Ca2+ decreased rooting at pH 4.5, increased rooting at pH 6.5 and did not affect rooting at pH 8.5. A similar trend was observed in the pot trial with Swiss chard: leaf and root (fresh weight) and pigment content (chl a, chl b and carotenoids) improved with the addition of 200 mg/L Ca2+ + 5% Kelpak at pH 6.5 or pH 8.5, while Kelpak was able to partially mask the negative effect of 200 mg/L Ca2+ at pH 4.5. These results suggest that while Kelpak is most effective in neutral pHs, it can be used to promote plant growth in a wide range of pH and water hardness conditions.
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Claims 8
Claim · model-written summary
Kelpak promoted mungbean rooting across all treatments.
- Taxon
- mungbean
.jpg?width=60)
Vigna radiatae0 - Treatment
- Kelpake0
- Outcome
- rootinge0
- Direction
- promotede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
.jpg?width=500)
Verbatim
e0“Kelpak promoted rooting in all the treatments in the mungbean bioassay”
Claim · model-written summary
Mungbean rooting was generally greatest with 20% Kelpak.
- Taxon
- mungbeanVigna radiatae1
- Treatment
- 20% Kelpake0
- Outcome
- rootinge0
- Direction
- maximume0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“maximum rooting generally achieved with 20% Kelpak”
e1“mungbean rooting bioassay”
Claim · model-written summary
At pH 4.5, calcium addition reduced mungbean rooting with 20% Kelpak.
- Taxon
- mungbeanVigna radiatae1
- Treatment
- the addition of 200 mg/L and 400 mg/L Ca2+e0
- Outcome
- rootinge0
- Direction
- decreasede0
- Qualifier
- pH 4.5e0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“With 20% Kelpak, the addition of 200 mg/L and 400 mg/L Ca2+ decreased rooting at pH 4.5”
e1“mungbean rooting bioassay”
Claim · model-written summary
At pH 6.5, calcium addition increased mungbean rooting with 20% Kelpak.
- Taxon
- mungbeanVigna radiatae1
- Treatment
- the addition of 200 mg/L and 400 mg/L Ca2+e0
- Outcome
- rootinge0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Qualifier
- pH 6.5e0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“With 20% Kelpak, the addition of 200 mg/L and 400 mg/L Ca2+ decreased rooting at pH 4.5, increased rooting at pH 6.5”
e1“mungbean rooting bioassay”
Claim · model-written summary
At pH 8.5, calcium addition did not affect mungbean rooting with 20% Kelpak.
- Taxon
- mungbeanVigna radiatae1
- Treatment
- the addition of 200 mg/L and 400 mg/L Ca2+e0
- Outcome
- rootinge0
- Direction
- did not affecte0
- Qualifier
- pH 8.5e0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“With 20% Kelpak, the addition of 200 mg/L and 400 mg/L Ca2+ decreased rooting at pH 4.5, increased rooting at pH 6.5 and did not affect rooting at pH 8.5”
e1“mungbean rooting bioassay”
Claim · model-written summary
Calcium plus Kelpak improved Swiss chard leaf and root fresh weight at pH 6.5 or 8.5.
- Taxon
- Swiss chard
Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgarise1 - Treatment
- 200 mg/L Ca2+ + 5% Kelpake0
- Outcome
- leaf and root (fresh weight)e0
- Direction
- improvede0
- Qualifier
- pH 6.5 or pH 8.5e0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“leaf and root (fresh weight) and pigment content (chl a, chl b and carotenoids) improved with the addition of 200 mg/L Ca2+ + 5% Kelpak at pH 6.5 or pH 8.5”
e1“pot trial with Swiss chard:”
Claim · model-written summary
Calcium plus Kelpak improved Swiss chard pigment content at pH 6.5 or 8.5.
- Taxon
- Swiss chardBeta vulgaris subsp. vulgarise1
- Treatment
- 200 mg/L Ca2+ + 5% Kelpake0
- Outcome
- pigment content (chl a, chl b and carotenoids)e0
- Direction
- improvede0
- Qualifier
- pH 6.5 or pH 8.5e0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“leaf and root (fresh weight) and pigment content (chl a, chl b and carotenoids) improved with the addition of 200 mg/L Ca2+ + 5% Kelpak at pH 6.5 or pH 8.5”
e1“pot trial with Swiss chard:”
Claim · model-written summary
Kelpak partly offset the adverse calcium effect on Swiss chard at pH 4.5.
- Taxon
- Swiss chardBeta vulgaris subsp. vulgarise1
- Treatment
- Kelpake0
- Outcome
- negative effect of 200 mg/L Ca2+e0
- Direction
- partially maske0
- Qualifier
- pH 4.5e0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Kelpak was able to partially mask the negative effect of 200 mg/L Ca2+ at pH 4.5”
e1“pot trial with Swiss chard:”
The same questions in other papers
calcium(2+) · growth · Beta vulgaris (beet)Results agree
1 paper in the same direction as this paper
- positive
calcium(2+) · physiology: pigments · Beta vulgaris (beet)Results agree
1 paper in the same direction as this paper
- positive
calcium(2+) · growth · Vigna radiata (mung bean)Results agree
2 papers in the same direction as this paper
- positive
- positive
Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.