Quote:
Originally Posted by Mapp
Auxins (to my understanding) induce new root growth and promote branching of the existing root system, but they also have the effect of suppressing vegetative growth.
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Auxins, when poperly applied, do not suppress shoot growth.
Expanding on Camille's description, as plants grow the shoot apical meristem produces auxins that flow down through the plant, stimulating root growth and branching. As roots grow, their apical meristematic tissues produce cytokinins that flow up through the plant, stimulating shoot growth and branching.
When you apply a kelp extract (and they are far from being all the same), depending upon the specific product, either roots or shoots are stimulated into accelerated growth, then the natural response follows, albeit at a somewhat reduced rate, going back-and-forth, deminishing in concentration at each cycle over about a 2-3 week period, until it subsides back to its normal rates.
If the kelp extract is higher in cytokinins than auxins (typical of those based upon
Ascophyllum nodosum), while both still happen, shoot growth is typically accelerated more than that of roots, leading to leggy plants.
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