Overview

An independent replicated potato trial was conducted by Field-Tek during the 2026 growing season to evaluate the effect of Plant-Stim + Balance on crop growth, yield and crop safety.

The trial was established as a randomised design with four replicates per treatment. Plant-Stim (5 L/ha) and Balance (20 L/ha) were applied at key growth stages including flowering, tuber initiation and tuber bulking, with assessments of crop vigour, plant health and harvested tuber yield. Results were compared against an untreated control.

Key Findings

36% Increase in Total Tuber Yield

The Plant-Stim + Balance programme produced an average total tuber weight of 5,953 g per 2 m harvest sample, compared with 4,367.8 g for the untreated control.

This represented a 36.3% increase in harvested yield, demonstrating the potential of the combined biological programme to enhance potato productivity under commercial growing conditions.

Excellent Crop Safety

No phytotoxicity or adverse crop effects were observed throughout the trial, confirming that the Plant-Stim + Balance programme was safe to apply across multiple growth stages.

Trial Summary

This independent trial demonstrated a strong positive yield response from the combined Plant-Stim + Balance programme, delivering a 36.3% increase in total tuber yield compared with the untreated control while maintaining excellent crop safety.

Although the differences were not statistically significant at the 5% confidence level, the magnitude of the response provides encouraging evidence that combining Plant-Stim with Balance can support greater crop performance and productivity in potato production systems.

Key Findings

  • Yield

    Balance & Plant-Stim increased yield by over 36%

  • Excellent Crop Safety

    No phytotoxicity or adverse crop effects were observed throughout the trial, confirming that the Plant-Stim + Balance programme was safe to apply across multiple growth stages.

  • Commercial Relevance

    This increase in yield represents an additional gross return of around $4,400/ha, highlighting the potential economic value of integrating biological crop stimulants into commercial potato production.

Commercial Relevance

Based on a standard 900 mm row spacing, the Plant-Stim + Balance programme equates to an estimated 33.1 t/ha, compared with 24.3 t/ha for the untreated control—an increase of approximately 8.8 t/ha. At a potato value of $500/t, this represents an additional gross return of around $4,400/ha, highlighting the potential economic value of integrating biological crop stimulants into commercial potato production.