Biostimulants in horticulture

Biostimulant products in horticulture are natural or chemical substances that enhance plant growth, stress tolerance, and nutrient uptake, promoting healthier and more productive crops.

There is no doubt that for the horticultural industry to become more resilient and sustainable growers need to adopt a range of biological products including plant biostimulants. Stimulating natural processes, quality biostimulant products have been scientifically proven to enhance nutrient uptake and efficiency, tolerance to abiotic stress as well as crop quality. These products have an important role to play in modern horticultural production.

Healthy well-nourished plants grow and yield well and have a much high disease-resistance threshold. Unlike synthetic agrochemicals, biostimulants are not silver bullets. In the early days of biostimulants, guidance for use was sometimes rudimentary and resulting efficacy could be erratic.

Fast forward several decades and ICL is working with companies leading this field, to bring your proven products supported by in-depth technical backup.

Benefits to using biostimulants

• Helping combat environmental stresses – Biostimulants can promote enhanced germination and root development, leading to increased vigour and greater stress resistance. An enhanced root system promotes more efficient nutrient and water uptake and translocation throughout the growing season.
• Boosting plant health and quality – Promoting growth and improving plant metabolism can benefit overall plant growth and health. In addition, providing a catalyst at specific developmental stages can lead to improved uniformity and overall plant quality.
• Encouraging plant growth – Biostimulants generally operate through different mechanisms compared to standard fertilizers, providing essential nutrients for plant metabolism that stimulate growth. Upregulating gene expression can have an effect on cell division and sizing, root and shoot growth, and reproductive development and timing.