Here's my long winded (but abbreviated) thoughts on this subject;
This is a fascinating subject for me. So here goes.
I guess what I'm trying to articulate is this; Plant growth regulators (hormones)
are all dangerous chemicals, and should be handled with care, especially in any concentrated forms. For instance, Lets just take a look at the ones I have my cupboard, for instance. The one I don't have up here is ethylene, but I'll touch on that one also.
View attachment 1179144
So Salicylic acid; dangerous stuff, can cause blindness, can cause chemical burns. It is a precursor to and a
metabolite of
aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid). It is a
plant hormone. It's also used for face peels, and is generally considered safe for human use at lower solution levels.
Latin salix for
willow tree. It is an ingredient in some anti-
acne products. Salts and
esters of salicylic acid are known as salicylates.
Although we don't always think of them as such;
Fulvic acid is
the main constituent of all Plant Growth regulators (PGR). Fulvic is popular due to its power full electrolytic property. It maintains very good water & salt balance in crop. This balance improves the rate of photosynthesis. They are similar to
humic acids, with differences being their carbon and oxygen contents, acidity (pKa value), degree of polymerization, molecular weight, and color. Fulvic acids are produced by microbial degradation of plant matter in a
soil with sufficient
oxygen. Fulvic and humic acids are extracted at high pH by treating soil humus with a solution of
NaOH. Their dissolution is favored by the dissociation and the ionization of their
carboxylic and
phenolic groups at high pH. The insoluble fraction of humus remaining after its leaching by NaOH is
humin. After alkaline extraction, fulvic and humic acids are then separated by further acidification
Glibberic Acid aka (3
S,3a
S,4
S,4a
S,7
S,9a
R,9b
R,12
S)-7,12-Dihydroxy-3-methyl-6-methylene-2-oxoperhydro-4a,7-methano-9b,3-propenoazuleno[1,2-
b]furan-4-carboxylic acid; (it's long name). GA is widely used in the barley
malting industry. A GA solution is sprayed on the barley after the steeping process is completed. This stimulates growth in otherwise partly dormant kernels and produces a uniform and rapid growth. GA stimulates the cells of germinating seeds to produce
mRNA molecules that code for
hydrolytic enzymes. (important stuff) Gibberellic acid is a very potent hormone. Since GA regulates growth, applications of very low concentrations can have a profound effect while too much will have the opposite effect. It is usually used in concentrations between 0.01 and 10 mg/L.
This is an important group IMO.
Auxin; aka
Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) is the most abundant and the basic auxin natively occurring and functioning in plants. When a plant cell comes into contact with auxin, it causes dramatic changes in
gene expression, with many genes up- or down-regulated. It generates the majority of auxin effects in intact plants, and is the most potent native auxin. There are four more endogenously synthesized auxins in plants. All auxins are compounds with aromatic ring and a carboxylic acid group. Auxins typically act in concert with, or in opposition to, other plant hormones. For example, the ratio of auxin to
cytokinin in certain plant tissues determines initiation of root versus shoot buds.
On the cellular level, auxin is essential for
cell growth, affecting both
cell division and cellular expansion. Auxin concentration level, together with other local factors, contributes to
cell differentiation and specification of the cell fate. Depending on the specific tissue, auxin may promote axial elongation (as in shoots), lateral expansion (as in root swelling), or iso-diametric expansion (as in fruit growth). In some cases (coleoptile growth), auxin-promoted cellular expansion occurs in the absence of cell division.
Auxin participates in
phototropism,
geotropism,
hydrotropism and other developmental changes. The uneven distribution of auxin, due to environmental cues, such as unidirectional light or gravity force, results in uneven plant tissue growth, and generally, auxin governs the form and shape of the plant body, direction and strength of growth of all organs, and their mutual interaction.
Ethelene is a colorless flammable gas with a faint "sweet and musky" odor when pure. It is the simplest alkene. Ethylene is widely used in the chemical industry, and its worldwide production exceeds that of any other organic compound. Major industrial reactions of ethylene include in order of scale: 1)
polymerization, 2)
oxidation, 3)
halogenation and
hydrohalogenation, 4)
alkylation, 5)
hydration, 6)
oligomerization, and 7)
hydroformylation. The
hydrate of ethylene is
ethanol. (grain alcohol, or ETOH).
So you can see, all dangerous stuff, but "tolerated" by organisms,
even necessary. It's the dosage/concentration that's key here. Not necessarily the prescience or absence thereof. For instance; some people drink copious amounts of ethanol,
but it doesn't kill them. It inebriates them.
View attachment 1179151 That's not to say toxic metabolites aren't produced, it's just that your body is capable of clearing them effectively.
View attachment 1179150
Some of those "synthetic" PGR's lead down the road of tumor formation, so I would steer clear of them. However, the more "natural" assault on your body has been going on since before you were born, (perhaps millions of yearrs) So you body has appropriate mechanisms in place to deal with these biological "challenges"
Or trouble makers. If you want to call them that.
