Abiotic stresses such as flooding, drought, heat, salinity, and temperature extremes can reduce crop growth, quality, and yields, creating significant challenges for growers. Biostimulants can help plants respond to these environmental stressors by triggering natural defense mechanisms, supporting stress tolerance, and improving plant growth and development.
Spring flooding, mid-summer heat and drought, early freeze, high salinity . . . your crops can experience it all in a single growing season, especially if you’re in the Upper Midwest and Plains states. The result is less efficient growth, lower yields, and slimmer profits for you at the end of the growing season.
Increasing abiotic stress requires an innovative solution. That is where biostimulants can fill a gap in your program. If you’re losing your battle against environmental stressors with conventional inputs, take a moment to learn about an innovative way to work with Mother Nature to improve your plants’ natural defense systems.
Plant Stress Is a Big Deal
As a grower, you’ve seen abiotic stress in your plants increase in real time. Every year, flooding, drought, salinity, high temperatures, and nutrient deficiencies threaten the nutritional quality and productivity of your crops. The severity and frequency of plant stressors are expected to rise over the next several decades as climate change intensifies.
Abiotic stressors have a systemic impact on a plant, doing damage at the tissue, cellular, and even molecular levels. This damage appears as atypical growth patterns, limited reproductive success, and less-efficient photosynthesis. All of this adds up to diminished crop quality, reduced yields, and pressure on your bottom line.
What Is a Biostimulant?
Biostimulants are a solution to the challenges abiotic stress presents. Biostimulants are substances that trigger changes within a plant that improve stress tolerance and enhance plant growth and development.
How Biostimulants Mitigate Plant Stress
Biostimulants mitigate plant stress and improve stress tolerance in several ways.
- Activate antioxidants: Biostimulants trigger plants to produce antioxidant enzymes to clear out toxic reactive oxygen species (ROS) caused by heat or drought.
- Osmolyte accumulation: Biostimulants encourage plants to accumulate protective substances that prevent cells from collapsing during drought or when under salt stress.
- Root and surface enhancement: Biostimulants stimulate root growth so plants have more of a chance to find water and trace minerals.
- Membrane protection: Biostimulants can stabilize cell walls and help them withstand extreme heat or cold.
Biostimulants work with the plant’s natural defense and maintenance systems to bolster its ability to withstand abiotic stress.
Biostimulants Trigger Plant Signaling
One of the ways biostimulants work is by triggering the plant’s own processes. They act as molecular triggers that provoke dormant processes into action. Here’s a look at three common ways biostimulants trigger plant signaling.
| Biostimulant Trigger | Action | Effect |
| Hormonal Crosstalk | Mimics or stimulates key plant hormones | Turns on a plant’s drought response or systemic defenses |
| Signal Transduction | Bind to or interact with cellular receptors | Turns on stress-responsive and defense genes before damage occurs |
| Metabolic Reprogramming | Redirects plant’s energy allocations | Plant invests energy in protection, repair, and adaptation as well as growth |
TEVA ComPlex Biostimulant
The ST Biologicals mentors recommend TEVA’s ComPlex biostimulant for effective plant protection. It is derived from the roots of the guayule cactus and captures that plant’s physiological ability to survive its harsh desert environment. It includes amino acids, polyamines, organic acids, antioxidants, sugars, and other minerals and trace nutrients to help your plants defend themselves against their own environmental stressors.
Testing on peppers found ComPlex improves plant resistance to heat and drought as well as ROS stress. Test results found enhanced flowering induction, among other benefits at the tissue and cellular level within the plant.
ComPlex fits well into your existing program. The ST Biologicals mentors work directly with you to identify optimal application rates and application frequency. ComPlex can be applied in-furrow for root stimulation or as a foliar spray for growth and PGR stimulation. It is effective on all crops.
Biostimulants are a smart solution for defending your plants against unpredictable environmental stressors. The ST Biologicals mentors can help you incorporate biostimulants at your operation. Get in touch with us today for support. We’re here to help you succeed. When soil speaks, we listen.
Mitigate Plant Stress FAQs
What is abiotic stress in plants?
Abiotic stress is damage or disruption caused by nonliving environmental factors such as drought, flooding, extreme temperatures, salinity, and nutrient deficiencies. These stressors can affect plants at the tissue, cellular, and molecular levels, reducing growth and crop productivity.
How do biostimulants help plants manage stress?
Biostimulants trigger changes within plants that can improve their ability to tolerate environmental stress. They may activate antioxidant defenses, encourage protective osmolyte accumulation, support root development, and help protect plant cell membranes.
How do biostimulants trigger plant signaling?
Biostimulants can act as molecular triggers that activate the plant’s natural processes. They may influence hormonal crosstalk, signal transduction, and metabolic reprogramming, helping plants redirect resources toward protection, repair, and adaptation during stressful conditions.
When should growers use biostimulants?
Biostimulants can be incorporated into a crop program to help plants prepare for or respond to environmental stress. Depending on the product, they may be applied in-furrow to support root stimulation or as a foliar spray to support growth and plant signaling.
