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The Effects of Melissyl Alcohol on Plants

For many plant growers there exist many different supplements and fertilizers available to help stimulate plant growth. These are used for many reasons, including to supplement a nutrient that would be otherwise missing from the current environment, increase growth speed and size or to create a healthier plant. Some supplements, such as melissyl alcohol, can be used to stimulate the growth of a plant beyond its normal capacity.

Triacontanol
- The technical term for melissyl alcohol is triacontanol. Triacontanol is a 30 carbon straight-chain primary alcohol with the formula C30H62O. Triacontanol is naturally occurring, though it can be, synthetically produced, creating a more potent extract. In nature triacontanol can be found in several different plants, such as alfalfa or in beeswax. Triacontanol can be used to treat both whole plants as a spray or even as a soil treatment before seeding.
Growth
- One of the strongest ways that triacontanol affects different plants is that it stimulates the growth of the plant by decreasing carbon dioxide (C02) inhibition, which in turn increases CO2 assimilation and enhances photosynthesis. This process helps create plants that are able to acquire more nutrients from their environment, which leads to larger faster growing plants and larger higher quality crop yields. When used on flowering plants, the blooms of the plant are larger, more numerous and of higher quality.
Health
- Triacontanol also greatly increases the health and hardiness of a plant. Most plants treated with triacontanol show an increase of cell density between 15 and 30 percent. This yield makes for a stronger plant. Most treated plants also show stronger and more resilient root structures. Triacontanol also is effective at protecting plants against adverse weather conditions such as frost. In a study conducted by the University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Poland, it was found that young cucumber plants, which are extremely sensitive to frost and chilling, were significantly more resilient to chilling and resisted many of the negative effects of chilling when treated with triacontanol.
Usage
- Triacontinal is used across the world as a natural growth stimulant. It can be found in all types of horticulture. It is used on farms to stimulate the growth and crop yield of items such as corn, rice, cucumbers and tomatoes. It also is used to grow stronger and higher quality flowers, such as tulips. Because most plants respond positively to triacontinal, it is a popular tool for plant growers. Triacontinal is water soluble, however, and needs to be applied to plants in rather low concentrations. When used at the same time with similar elements, triacontinal has extremely reduced effectiveness.

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