Quote:

---

Harry_Ba11sach said:
It's the primary active ingredient in numerous over the counter Acne medications. No idea about warts.


There are thousands of different growth hormones that regulate plant biomass production. The most abundant of these is indole-3-acetic acid. Salicyclic acid is NOT responsible for regulating root production though, that is blatantly incorrect. It is responsible for chloroplast augmentation to alter rates of transpiration and photosynthesis.

---

Quote:

---

alicyclic acid is NOT responsible for regulating root production though, that is blatantly incorrect.

---

Quote:

---

Aqueous solutions of SA, applied as a spray to the shoots of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr. cv. Cajeme), significantly increased the growth of shoots and roots as measured after seven days of treatment. Shoot spraying of SA had no significant effect on photosynthetic rate. Growth increases were obtained in plants cultivated either in the greenhouse or in the field; SA-induced increases in root growth of up to 100% were measured in the field.

---

Quote:

---

This study was conducted to determine the effect of foliar salicylic acid (SA) applications on fruit quality, growth and yield of tomato under greenhouse conditions in 2006 and 2007. In the study, fruit diameter, fruit length, fruit weight, fruit number per plant, Vitamin C, pH, Total Soluble Solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA), stem diameter, leaf dry matter ratio, chlorophyll content, early yield and total yield were determined. Tomato plants were treated with foliar SA applications at different concentrations (0.00, 0.25, 0.50 and 1.00 mM). SA was applied with spraying four times during the vegetation at 10-day intervals two weeks after planting. In the study, it was determined that foliar applications of SA showed positive effect on some fruit characteristics, plant growth, chlorophyll content in leaves, early yield and total yield. SA treatments had no effect on pH, AA and TA of tomato. Total soluble solids (TSS) increased with foliar SA applications. The greatest stem diameter, leaf dry matter and chlorophyll content were obtained from 0.50 mM SA treatment. SA treatments increased the early yield of tomato compared to the control. The yield of tomato was significantly influenced by foliar SA applications. The highest yield occurred in 0.50 mM SA treatment.According to our results, applications of 0.50 mM SA should be recommended in order to improve yield.

---

Quote:

---

Aqueous solutions of SA, applied as a spray to the shoots of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr. cv. Cajeme), significantly increased the growth of shoots and roots as measured after seven days of treatment. Shoot spraying of SA had no significant effect on photosynthetic rate. Growth increases were obtained in plants cultivated either in the greenhouse or in the field; SA-induced increases in root growth of up to 100% were measured in the field.

---

Quote:

---

Salicylic acid does increase growth of roots -- I don't know if it is directly, or indirectly, but it does...

---

That last part of your sentence is where you really touched on the truth.

Here's what I was trying to say; the SA may be responsible for shoot growth, which in turn releases alternate regulatory hormones within the plant that stimulate root growth. Exogeneous application of SA apparently does increase root growth, but not because it's directly responsible for regulating the rate of cell division in the root zone, but because it's responsible for rate of shoot development. When a plant has overwhelming shoot:root mass ratio, alternative cytokinins are released within the plant that signal increased root development.

So in conclusion, yes, it does increase the growth of roots, but it's not responsible for it. SA is not a hromone that codes for increased root growth, and by the biological definition of the phrase we can't say it's "responsible," even though it certainly influences.