## 3 Results and Discussion
### Effect of EM and OMW Treatments on Plants Growth
The highest values of DWL were observed in E1 and O2, with 18.8 and 19.2 g respectively. Leaves fresh and dry weights showed no statistically significant differences among treatments with the two biostimulants (Figure 1A,B, Table A4). Regarding the grown factors FWL and DWL, the pairwise analysis (Table A2) showed that the practical significance, expressed in terms of Effect Size is always significant (EF \(<-5.3\)) in the comparison between Control and Treatments (E1, E2, O1, O2) and the most significant effects were recorded between Control and O2 (EF \(=-6.8\) for FWL and EF \(=-7.8\) for DWL) (Table A2). Comparing the treatments in pairs, for FWL the higher value of EF was obtained for E1\(\Leftrightarrow\)O1 (EF \(=1.01\)), while the minimum difference of response was obtained by comparing the groups E2\(\Leftrightarrow\)O1 (EF \(=0.046\)). DWL showed a higher value of EF when comparing in pair E2\(\Leftrightarrow\)O2 (EF \(=-1.64\)), and the minimum difference in E2\(\Leftrightarrow\)O1 (EF \(=-0.094\)) (Table A2). Concerning roots fresh and dry weights, they were significantly higher in EM and OMW treatments compared to the Control (Figure 1C,D; Table A4). The increase in fresh weight ranged from 65% (E2) to 94.4% (E1), and the highest value of FW roots was recorded in the E1 treatment with 98.0 g (Figure 1C; Table A4). For the dry weight, the best values were observed in E1 (14.1 g) and O2 (14.0 g) treatments, while the Control recorded 8.6 g (Figure 1D). Roots fresh and dry weights showed no statistically significant differences between treatments with the two biostimulants (Figure 1C,D). Comparing the Control with the treatments the pairwise analysis (Table A2) showed that the maximum response to treatment for FWR was observed for pair Control\(\Leftrightarrow\)O1 (EF \(=-6.67\)), while among the treatments the maximum value of EF was observed for pair E1\(\Leftrightarrow\)E2 (2.17). Instead for DWR, the comparison between Control and treatments exhibited the maximum value for pair Control\(\Leftrightarrow\)E1 (EF \(=-3.08\)) and the minimum difference in Control\(\Leftrightarrow\)E2 (EF \(=-2.30\)). In treated plants maximum differences were observed for pair E1\(\Leftrightarrow\)E2 and the minimum in E1\(\Leftrightarrow\)O2, EF \(=1.38\) and EF \(=0.10\) respectively (Table A2). The total fresh (FWT) and total dry weight (DWT) of OMW- and EM-treated plants were always higher in all treatments compared to Control. The treated plants showed an average FWT (172.9 g) that was about 89 g greater than the Control plants, and a higher value was observed in E1 (184.9 g) (Table A4). The highest value in the pairwise analysis was EF \(=11.4\) in Control\(\Leftrightarrow\)O1 (Table A2). The FWT did not show statistically significant differences among the four treatments (Figure 1E). Regarding DWT, the treatments E1 and O2 registered the highest mean values (33.3 g and 33.5 g, respectively) and marginally significant differences were observed between the two biostimulants and the applied concentrations (Figure 1F; Table A4). Control in comparison to treated plants, showed the maximum value of EF (\(-8.07\)) for pair Control\(\Leftrightarrow\)O1, among treatments the minimum was for E1\(\Leftrightarrow\)O2 (EF \(=-0.06\)), and the highest was for E2\(\Leftrightarrow\)O2 (EF \(=-2.29\)) (Table A2). The improveddevelopment of treated plants with EM and OMW is highlighted also in an increase in the total RGR index (Figure 2). At the end of the experiment (75 DTA), the total RGR of treated plants ranged from 50.5 to 53.1 mg g\({}^{-1}\) d\({}^{-1}\), with the highest value in O2 treatment, while in the Control was 40.3 mg g\({}^{-1}\) d\({}^{-1}\). In all plants the aerial part (leaves) exhibited the highest RGR and, in particular, the treated plants showed a significant increase of about 32% in leaves RGR compared to the Control; the highest value was observed in OMW treatment applied at the maximum concentration (O2; 63.0 mg g\({}^{-1}\) d\({}^{-1}\)).