Humic Acid As A Counter Measure Against Heat Stress For Plants

To many farmers, the main cause of damage to the productivity and quality of crops is due to the stress caused by excessive increase in temperature. In the past when faced with phenomenon of plant heat stress such as the problems of leaf burning and root burning, the farmers would have no counter measures but to leave them in the hands of God. Now, thanks to the innovation of science, many effective methods to reduce heat stress have been discovered. The below is the discussion on plant physiology of heat stress and the methods to reduce the negative effects caused to plants by heat stress.

The difference between heat stress and moisture stress

Firstly, we must note the difference between heat stress and moisture stress. Though heat stress and moisture stress commonly happen, but the causes of its occurrence are totally different There is as such a need to differentiate them. The causes of moisture stress are two: There first type is where the soil moisture is too low, namely it is too dry or there is water shortage. The other type is where the soil base is too high.

If the soil moisture is too low, too dry, or its soil base is too high, it will affect the delivery of water. If the distribution of water is uneven within the leaves, the occurrence of burn leaves will take place. But plants can reduce the leaf area affected by sunlight to avoid overheating of leaves by resorting to methods which include leaf curl, leaf hair reflection, reflective wax surfaces and etc. Besides, too strong a sunlight or enhanced temperature will result in water evaporation. The water loss will directly affect the results of soil moisture decline. Low humidity can cause abnormal plant growth and can easily lead to stem and leaf edge necrosis.

The reason of high soil base is normally caused by mankind. The main cause being the excessive use of chemical fertilizers. It is easy to cause damage to plants if there is not enough moisture in the soil, coupled with high levels of soluble salts. Most farmers for convenience sake as well as for efficiency in the usage of fertilizer, like the use of liquid fertilizer containing high salt content to irrigate their farmlands. Although the said liquid fertilizers can enable leaves to directly absorb nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous nutrients, but high salinity can easily cause leaf burning. What is worse, the salt can accumulate inside the soil and eventually lead to salt damage. Besides, the phosphate fertilizer in the soil is not easily used and absorbed by plants which will become hard squamous substance that will lead to the solidification of soil, the end result being the diminished function of porosity and regulation of water. If the function of plant to absorb water and nutrients from its roots is weakened, it will lead to agricultural production cuts. The young roots of plant, its seedlings and buds are more sensitive to salt damage. The symptoms of such damage usually start with the yellowing of the tip and inward leaf margin.

The counter measure for plant against heat stress

The cause of heat stress Heat stress happens to plant due to the temperature of the atmosphere which has exceeded the range for plant to sustain its normal function. Different species of plants have different adaptability against heat stress depending on the atmospheric temperature. For example, at a temperature of 36.5 degrees Celsius, tomatoes will suffer heat stress; whereas cold season turf grass will have heat stress if the temperature is more than 32 degrees Celsius; and heat stress will hit the cotton at temperatures above 38 degrees Celsius. Heat stress caused to plants due to high atmospheric temperature if coupled with moisture stress, may cause the plant to be unable to cool itself through the evaporation of water process. If so, the plant itself may suffer heat stress even at a lower temperature. Two fundamental processes of heat stress: Basically when temperature increases to too high a level, plants must survive through two main crises processes to be deemed unscathed. The first crisis is when photosynthesis is blocked and the second being overheating in breathing. We shall now discuss these two main themes:

1) Blockage in photosynthesis Photosynthesis is a process whereby plants receive sunlight to convert energy into chemical sugar. The jet that comes from white sunlight photons, which shines on the magnesium atoms in the chlorophyll molecule, will stimulate certain electronic. These electrons are transferred into other atoms and then create a "Hill reaction." In this chemical reaction process carbon dioxide and water will be converted by the sun energy into carbohydrates (sugar) and oxygen. 6 CO2 (carbon dioxide) + 6 H2O (water) + Light Energy = C6H1206 (glucose) + 3 O2 (oxygen) When the ambient air temperature around a plant reaches a critically high value, the Hill reaction of photosynthesis will be blocked. The normal reaction of the electron transfer will pause. But these stimulated electrons will escape into the surrounding cytoplasm which would cause more damage to living cells in the plants. These escaped electrons are also called free radicals, which should have become sugar through the manufacturing process but were not successful. Thus free radicals will spread around and cause serious damage to the cytoplasm of the plant. 2) Overheating in breathing Breathing is a process where the plant will burn sugar in order to provide energy supply for its own use. Leaf respiration rate depends on the surrounding temperature control. As the thermal temperature rises the rate plants burn sugar will be more rapid, and at the same time produces triphosphatase which will promote plants to do a variety of basic reactions. Now imagine that photosynthesis in plants has been blocked due to heat stress, and the sugar production has stopped, the sugar storage of plant itself on the other hand has also been depleted speedily; when plant's own sugar is exhausted, it will not be able to produce energy, all the processes needed to maintain plant growth, such as nutrients absorption and protein sysnthesis will slow down. That explains why after suffering high temperature for a period of time, the size of fruit tubers will shrink as it has insufficient sugar to sustain the plant growth. The actual consequences of heat stress on plants

The immediate consequence of heat stress is the gradual withering and change of the leaf colour. But the more serious consequence will only take place later, occurring after the high temperature fades back to normal, the negative consequences on plant growth will manifest apparently then. The longer plants stay in the high temperature environment the more serious the side effects will be. If vegetables encounter heat stress during the growing season it can cause growth delay and decrease the protein accumulation which is most detrimental to forage growers. This is because at the beginning stage of plant growth, plant needs to rely on carbohydrates or sugar to make proteins. Any lack of carbohydrate sugar will cause interruption to the manufacture of proteins. This is why the protein content during the growth of grass in the summer period always declines. Heat stress can lead to lack of pollen spreading in flowering crops such as bean type, tomato, pepper and cotton. Lack of pollen will result in the reduction of fruit yield. Such phenomenon will similarly occur in small grain production. If growing fruit and tubers encounter high temperature condition,its structure and size will be reduced. If they re-encounter a long period of high fever, it will result in the shrinking of the fruit and tubers and drop in fruit yield. During the maturity period of fruit and if the fruit is hit with a super-hightemperature, it will lead to declining quality, including the lack of fruit sugar accumulation, and the lack of organic acids that will result in the taste being not so good. The response of plant to heat stress Plants are like humans. When faced with heat stress, plants will have to obtain water from the environment in order to maintain the growth of the whole system. When the surrounding environment is overheated, the rate of transpiration will accelerate. The function of transpiration refers to the absorption of water by the plant roots which then distributes the wetness together with oxygen through the underside of the leaves into the atmosphere. When plants are subjected to heat stress, the leaves will first wilt, the leaf margin will then turn brown and become curly and brittle, and if the conditions do not improve, leaves will begin to fall and stop transpiration, then the branches begin to die, flowering stops, and finally the immature flowers will fall. The following are a few examples on how to maintain plant growth in heat stress conditions, the main purpose is to ensure plant health, and maintain adequate

and appropriate water supply, and attempt in the best endeavors to keep the roots in a cool state.

Response towards heat stress

1) Resort to organic farming and enhance the plant's own resistance. 2) Use drip irrigation system to do the sprinkling, not just only surface watering. 3) to solve the problems of soil hardening to enable soil to resume its permeability and ventilation. 4) use of organic mulch to keep soil moist and cool leaves, reduce surface water evaporation. 5) Use XXL Bio Enhancer to ease plant heat stress. 1) Resort to organic farming to strengthen plants resistance The method of organic farming can strengthen plants resistance in hot environment. If the plants growing environment and soil are filled with organic compost, minerals nutrients and good micro-organisms, the plant will have better resistance against problems caused by severe heat stress. Plants are like men, as long as the plants can live healthily, they will naturally have better resistance ability against a variety of stresses such heat stress, cold stress, other diseases and etc. The materials suitable for organic farming comprise of many minerals and trace elements which are helpful to the reduction of heat stress caused to plants. Generally speaking, soil under organic farming will be more relaxed, and there is less hardening of the soil. Because of the loose soil the root system will be larger resulting in a better nutrient uptake. Sometimes the response of the root system is more intense than the terminal bud. As such the plant as a whole also appears to be much healthier. Although the use of commercialized anti-oxidants is still rarely seen, but the use XXL Bio Enhancer which contains fulvic acid and humic acid can be treated as an effective anti-oxidant. By applying XXL Bio Enhancer into soil can chelate toxic heavy metal compounds, promote the vitality of the micro-organisms in soil, improve over-hardened soil, suppress germs growth, strengthen plant nutrients absorption ability, and at the same time it has an effective result on the negative effects caused by heat stress and moisture stress. 2) Use drip irrigation system to do the deep style sprinkling, not just surface-type watering

To check the water permeability of your agricultural land to ensure the plant's root system is able to absorb enough water. The method to test soils hardness is very simple. Take a screw driver and pierce it through the soil. If it can drive through the soil easily then the soil permeability is good. If it cant, it means the time needed to irrigate the land must be lengthened. Or if the soil has already hardened then it is difficult for water to freely permeate through the soil. 3) to solve the problems of soil hardening, so that the soil permeability ventilation can recover. The causes of hardening of soil are none other than those as stated herein below. The solution to it is by first enhancing the organic vitality in the soil to enable the micro-organisms to rely on the natural forces to change the basic structure of the soil. Then only will the plant be able to efficiently and effectively absorb nutrients and maintain a healthy growth. The basic reasons of soil hardening: The use of herbicides will kill earthworms, thus causes hardening and salinization of soil. Excessive use of pesticides will kill certain microbes bacteria, making it unable to break down fertilizer nutrients, leading to soil hardening, calcification, salinization, and agglomeration. The long-term use of chemical fertilizer without the application of compost and manure will harden the soil compaction, causing salinization to increase. Non-deep plowing without rotation will lead to hardening of the soil and the decline of fertility Excessive fertilization will cause soil acidification, such as hardening and soil degradation and salt accumulation. excessive use of lime materials and carbonized rice hull which are alkaline substances can cause high soil pH and lead to low utilization rate of nutrients, trace element deficiency and soil hardening and other issues. If the use of liquid chemical compound of phosphate fertilizer is without the assistance of the solubilizing bacteria to break down and digest the soil, it will easily lead to the formation of hard-phosphate causing soil hardening. normal fertile soil should naturally contain mycorrhizal fungi; but the use of chemical fertilizer and pesticide has made it impossible to innoculate them ; due to the lack in the spread of the natural mycorrhizal hyphae, the problems caused by soil hardening will not slow down.

The solution to soil hardening 1) The long term use of chemical fertilizer will severely damage soil aggregate structure, causing soil compaction and hardening of soil and the serious loss of water and fertilizer. The solution to soil hardening is to first reduce the usage and dosage of chemical fertilizer and pesticide so that hardened soil can recover and revert to normal state. Organic fertilizer is a natural organic-based fertilizer which is an important factor in improving soil fertility. Organic fertilizer can improve soil structure, increase the activity of soil organic matter, release soil nutrients and help prevent soil compaction and activate soil. Microorganisms in the soil can make beneficial microbes, earthworms and other small animals naturally reproduce, promoting the gradual softening of soil structure and the activation of soil bacteria. They will also enhance the effectiveness of fertilizer, intensify the living resources of aerobic bacteria, reduce acid diseases, increase the breeding of nitrogen-fixing bacteria, so that the free nitrogen in the air can be fully utilised. The use of organic fertilizers, manure, chicken manure and other types of organic fertilizer and organic materials, can increase soil organic matter, expedite the disintegration of humus, prevent hardening of soil. Besides, the optimum use of fertilizer can increase the effectiveness of fertilizer, and prevent excessive use of fertilizer. This will prevent the incidents of soil acidification, hardening and deterioration of soil quality as well as salt accumulation 2) A large part of the problem of soil hardening is caused by the use of the chemical phosphorous fertilizer liquid in the soil which then becomes fixed in an invalid solid-state. Therefore the actual solution to such soil hardening crisis is how to break down this fixed phosphorus in order to be re-absorbed by plants for use. The current biggest harm to the environment is phosphorus pollution. Phosphorus pollution can cause soil hardening, caking, and soil to be too alkaline. The solution to this is to acidify the soil. For hardened soil caused by too much alkaline, resort can be had to the application of the acidic 3.7 pH XXL Bio Enhancer. But do not mistaken XXL Bio Enhancer with potassium humate, humic acid amine, sodium and other chemicals of humic acid, because the pH value of these chemical humic acids are between around 8-11. Not only is the chemical humic acid not able to improve the problem of soil hardening caused by moderate or alkaline soil, but it will be counterproductive. Whereas the natural XXL Bio Enhancer not only will neutralize the alkaline soil caused by salt damage as well as resolving the hardening problem, it will also promote the vitality of the micro-organisms in the soil, enabling the solubilizing bacteria to dissolve invalid

phosphorus in the soil, which further assist in the growth of micro-organisms in the soil, enhancing the soil permeability, soften over-hardened soil. Another way to prevent the fixation of phosphorous is to resort to the use of organic phosphorous, use less of chemical liquid of phosphate fertilizer to reduce the probability of phosphorous being trapped. Organic phosphorus includes soft phosphorus mineral particles, soft phosphate rock powder, phosphate rock powder, and animal bone powder, organic manure and etc. In addition, mycorrhizal inoculation will expand the range for mycorrhizal groups and plants to absorb water and phosphate nutrients. The solubilizing effect of fulvic acid in XXL Bio Enhancer will encourage the invalid phosphorous in the soil to be absorbed by plants, coupled with the usage of the natural soft phosphate tablets which can be easily absorbed by plants, and the mycelium expansion function of mycorrhizal fungi, it will resolve most of the problems caused by soil hardening. The bio fertilizer product manufactured by the mixture of XXL Bio Enhancer and the soft phosphate powder have a mixing ratio of one to one and its function is as demonstrated by the aforesaid analysis. 3) There are a lot of materials on the prevention of soil hardening. Due to the limited space herein, it is unable to state them all. The following write-up merely introduces briefly on the function of diatomaceous earth and the absorbent polymers on soil improvements. Food grade diatomaceous earth which can absorb water of 3-4 times its own weight, together with the natural agricultural grade diatomaceous earth which is always used as cat litter, can both be used to improve soil condition, preserve water and fertilizer, promote soil aggregate and prevent hardening of soil. Not only will food grade diatomaceous earth be able to expel mosquitoes, it also has strong absorption function and be treated as a detox substance, which is a recommended material to prevent the toxin dioxin in the soil. The pH value of diatomaceous earth is at the neutral 7.6, which can improve worsening soil which either has too high or too low of pH value. Further the absorbent polymer is also a very good soil conditioner. This is because it can absorb water of 500 times its own weight, and that the water it absorbs can never be easily evaporated by high temperature environment. On one hand It can expand the water to soften the soil, on the other hand the soil will also become softened when the stored water have been absorbed by the roots, which can help very much in improving soil hardening problems.

4) The use of organic mulch to keep soil moist and cool leaves, reduce surface water evaporation. Organic soil cover will include the traditional soil surface of organic mulch and the newly trendy leaf surface cover of ultrafine particles. The main function of both is to keep leaves or soil moist and cool, reducing the evaporation of water. The end purpose is to moderate the bad effects caused by heat stress. (1) Organic cover on soil surface Organic soil cover specifically refers to a layer of protective material above the soil surface. From the material classification, it can be divided into two main categories namely organic mulch cover and mineral cover. Mineral mulch cover includes bark, leaves, compost, pine needles, clipping, wheat straw, rice straw, saw dust and fruit shell, etc.; whereas mineral cover includes zeolite mineral, gravel, pebbles, bentonite, perlite, vermiculite and so on. Apart from being an effective measure to moderate against heat stress, organic cover also plays the role of soil conditioner, which have often been overlooked by humans.

The function of organic cover on soil surface Keep the soil moist. Keep the soil moist and reduce evaporation of soil moisture, enable the soil to maintain a certain humidity in a relatively long period of time, thereby reducing the frequency of watering, and can reduce heat stress of plants. Protect plant roots, separate soil and air, protect plant roots from hightemperature burn due to the heat in the summer, thereby reducing the harm caused by heat stress. Improve soil structure, enhance soil water catchment, drainage and ventilation, maintain the coolness and moisture of soil.

(2) Organic mulch cover and mineral cover on soil surface The organic cover of ultrafine particles or mineral leaf surface is the recently invented type of plant cover products. Traditionally organic cover only referred to organic mulch covering the earth surface, most people seem to have forgotten that plants need also to cover their blade surface, and that blade surface is the real cooling parts of a plant.

In the past, during fertilization time, farmers place heavy reliance on chemical foliar fertilizer because it enables the plants to directly absorb nutrients from the leaves. Besides, the diluted chemical foliar fertilizer will leave no trace when it is dried up and as such will not possess the function of shielding leaves from strong sunlight. This new organic cover of ultrafine particles contains advantages not possessed by the former chemical foliar fertilizer. First of all, these organic ultrafine particles are all organic fertilizers consisting of minerals, plants and animals which do not have the defect caused by the excessive use of chemical foliar fertilizer that leads to leaves burning. Secondly, their particles are ultrafine with an average size of about 15um (micron) which is not too heavy when sprayed on the leaf surface. And when sprayed with the adhesive spray it is able to stay in the leaf surface to provide for nutrients on one hand, and on the other hand can shield against sunlight. It will not be an obstacle to photosynthesis apart from reducing the harm caused by plant heat stress. Plant absorbs several times more nutrients from leaf surface than from root surface. According to research, the efficiency of foliar spraying of plants is 20 times more than soil surface fertilization. Leaves are the main organs of plants to dissipate heat which are also the direct target of heat stress. Spraying on leaf surface mineral covers such as food grade diatomaceous earth, super-micro particle of XXL Bio Enhancer original powder, super soft phosphate powder and other particles, is like humans using parasols which has the function of protecting skin from direct contact of sunlight. Spraying on leaf surface the particle size food-grade diatomaceous earth (particle size 1-10 microns), in addition to shielding against sunlight can also prevent excessive evaporation of water due to sunlight. Diatomaceous earth itself contains 89% natural ingredients of silicon, which bring particular good effect to organic rice that needs silicon elements to grow strong crops stems. In the past, in order to increase silicon content in the rice fields, organic rice farmers would take the recommendations of agricultural experts by spreading and applying silicate slag in paddy fields to increase the silicon content or resort to spraying expensive liquid silicate trace elements. Indeed spraying diatomaceous earth on leaf surface not only can expel insects, it can enhance efficiency of plants in absorbing silicate trace elements which is twenty times more than the application of organic water mixed with silicate slag in paddy fields. The leaves which have been sprayed with food grade diatomaceous earth will leave behind a thin form of white powder which can promote photosynthesis, regulate water, absorb dew at night, emits water vapor during daytime and adjust the water to prevent leaf burn. According to the research of XXL agricultural

experts, silicon can help crops grow quickly and strongly and prevent against heat stress caused to plants. Besides, the foliar liquid silicon which is directly absorb by leaves can strengthen the epidermal leaf cells of plants, so that insects cannot bite the leaves, thus achieving the effect of insect and pest control. After understanding the above analysis on the spraying of diatomaceous earth on leaf surface, the next time when sighting farmers spraying the white substance of diatomaceous earth on the leaves, please do not mistaken that the farmers are spraying super heavyweight toxic. If there is no knowledge, there should be common sense, if there is no common sense one must watch more television. If one look closer at the white stuff, it contains deep mystery because it is the parasols for the many agricultural discoveries on new super particles. 3) The use of XXL Bio Enhancer to moderate heat stress caused to plants The materials that make XXL Bio Enhancer are plant and animal residues that remain in soil after a series of decomposition and microbial synthesis forming a polymer organic material mask. The substances that make XXL Bio Enhancer is a natural substance, formed by humic acid, fulvic acid and humic substances. Humic acid can be divided into natural humic acid and chemical humic acid. The fulvic acid found in natural XXL Bio Enhancer can dissolve in water; whereas the rot of the phytic acid will gradually dissolve in water, but humus is not water soluble. Therefore the natural XXL Bio Enhancer substances apart from fulvic acid which can be absorbed directly by plants, the remains of humic acid and humus can only be digested and absorbed by plants after being digested by micro-organisms and through the chelation process with other nutrients. The whole process of digestion and disintegration will take a few months to complete. The production of chemical humic acid substance is due to the fact that natural XXL Bio Enhancer cannot be swiftly absorbed and used by crops in a short time, therefore humans use strong oxide and alkali, to chelate XXL Bio Enhancer with potassium, ammonium, sodium hydroxide to make into humic acid chelates which are soluble in water so that they can be easily absorbed by plants. But chemical humic acid is not a natural organic product, its excessive use will cause leaf burn problems as in the use of the general chemical fertilizer. As such in order to moderate heat stress caused to plants, the natural XXL Bio Enhancer will be a better option. XXL Bio Enhancer has the highest value among all fertilizers. Therefore applying it into soil will bring out the best long-term effectiveness of humic acid substance.

As a soil conditioner XXL Bio Enhancer is very effective in suppressing heat stress caused to plants. It can stimulate the cells and tissues of plants under stress, improve the vitality of microbial strains around the roots of the soil. Promote the quick absorption of water and nutrients by plants, and as such can immediately lessen the pressure caused by heat stress. Plant utilizes the low molecular weight of humic acid to obtain free electrons, in other words, the low molecular weight of humic acid is used to perform the function of antioxidants. Plant by itself can also create a small amount of antioxidants like vitamin E substances, to fight against the attack of heat stress and moisture stress. These substances can also capture free electrons and prevent the destruction of plant tissue, but the anti-oxidants created by plant itself is slow and the amount is also not sufficient, not enough to cater to the long term demand. If at this juncture the soil contains sufficient XXL Bio Enhancer then it will be able to supply and supplement the anti-oxidants needed by plants. Biological growth hormone refers to a substance of which a small amount of application will help in plant growth and increase plants resistance against stress which is essential in enhancing the vitality of hormone. Plant hormone can be a conditioner to reflect on different changes in environment. Any type of substance that can change a plants hormone will be able to control the growth and health of a plant. Antioxidants are able to protect plants from damage by enzymes and metabolites; growth hormone can improve the biological production of antioxidants, so it can reduce harm caused by a variety of environments, which includes heat stress, drought, ultra violet (UV) light, and the damage caused by pests. XXL Bio Enhancer apart from being a biological growth hormone, it is by itself also a good soil conditioner. This is because it not only can chelate biologically heavy metals, but it can also make full use of the decomposed minerals of the soil nutrients, and reduce fertilizer usage as well as increase crop yield. There are many benefits for plants and soil using XXL Bio Enhancer. It can increase the supply of oxygen needed for microorganisms in the soil. It can also strengthen the vitality of the remaining scarce mycorrhizal activity which have been destroyed by chemical medicine. It is only through the new revival of mycorrhizal fungi and inoculation will plants be able to enlarge the mycorrhizal fungi group in order to absorb more nutrients in the soil.

XXL Bio Enhancer not only will stimulate the growth of plant and its roots, but it can also strengthen the vitality of plant enzymes and hormones, and can accelerate cell division, reaching the final result of increased production. It is a natural soil conditioner and plant growth stimulating agent, as well as a chelating agent and pest inhibitor. In addition, XXL Bio Enhancer promotes seed germination and inhibition of heat stress damage caused to plant.