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Effects of Several Biostimulants on Emergence and Yield of Two Snap Bean Cultivars, 2001 Jim E. Wyatt
Department of Plant Sciences and Landscape Systems
Interpretative Summary Except for the first day of emergence, no differences were found between cultivars in plant stands and biostimulant treatments had no effect on seedling emergence. >Hystyle exhibited more seedling damage in the form of Abald heads@ than >Romano 942= but biostimulant treatments had no effect on plant damage. Beans treated with Focus 15G had the highest yields in the study with both >Romano 942= and >Hystyle= cultivars and this biostimulant merits further investigation as a material to enhance snap bean yield.Objectives The objective of this study was evaluate liquid formulations of two biostimulants as seed- or soil-applied treatments and one granular formulation of a soil-applied biostimulant to determine effectiveness of the materials on stimulating growth and yield of snap beans. Materials and Methods The study was at the West Tennessee Experiment Station, Jackson, TN. Prior to planting, 200 lbs/acre of 15-15-15 fertilizer and 4 qts/acre of Diazinon were broadcast and incorporated into the plots. The experiment was arranged as a split-plot with four reps and snap bean cultivars as main plots and biostimulant treatments as sub-plots. Two snap bean cultivars, >Romano 942= and >Hystyle=, were used in the study. Biostimulant treatments were 1) Focus seed treatment @ 7.9 fl. ozs. of product/100 lbs. of seed; 2) Focus in-furrow spray @ 0.1837 fl. oz. of product/100 ft. of row; 3) Launch seed treatment @ 34.9 fl. ozs. of product/100 lbs. of seed; 4) Launch in-furrow spray @ 0.8080 fl. oz. of product/100 ft. of row; 5) Focus 15G in-furrow @ 1.598 oz. of product/100 ft. of row; and 6) untreated control.Data collected included seedling emergence, percent Abald heads@, pod yield. The two center rows of each plot were harvested for yield with a one-row Pull Pix snap bean harvester.> Hystyle= was harvested on 14 June and >Romano 942= was harvested on 19 June. Yield data were converted to lbs/acre and analyzed using the SAS statistical program and mean separation was by LSD.Results and Discussion Fastest emergence by 27 Apr was by >Romano 942= (Table 1). This difference was not observed three days later or on 4 May. The number of damaged seedlings was significantly higher in the >Hystyle= cultivar but biostimulant treatment had no effect on seedling emergence. There were no interactions between cultivars and biostimulant treatments.As expected, >Romano 942= produced significantly higher yields than >Hystyle= (Table 2) since it was harvested 5 days later and has larger individual pods than >Hystyle=Treatment with Focus 15G had the highest yield in the study, and produced 500 to 1000 pounds more pods than other biostimulant treatments and about 700 pounds more than the untreated control. It is recommended that Focus 15G be investigated further as a yield enhancing material for snap beans and possibly other vegetables.
Table 1. Seedling emergence on three days and number of seedlings without a growing point in biostimulant study on ‘Romano 942' and ‘Hystyle’ snap beans at the West Tennessee Experiment Station, Jackson, TN
z Fluid ounces per 100 lbs of seed or ounces of product per 100 row feet.Xmeans for treatment variables within columns followed by the same letter are not significantly different, LSD 5%.
Table 2. Yield of ‘Romano 942' and ‘Hystyle’ snap beans with several biostimulant treatments at the West Tennessee Experiment Station, Jackson, TN
z Fluid ounces per 100 lbs of seed or ounces of product per 100 row feet.X means for treatment variables within columns followed by the same letter are not significantly different, LSD 5%. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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