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Biochar (BC) and humic acid product (HAP) soil amendments may improve plant performance under water-limited conditions. Our aim was to investigate if BC and HAP amendments, alone or in combination, will have positive and synergistic effects.

A three-factorial fully randomized study was carried out in the greenhouse for 66 days, including the factors ‘BC’, ‘HAP’ and ‘water regime’. Maize (Zea mays var. ‘Amadeo’ DKC-3399) was grown in pots (6 kg sandy soil pot⁻¹) amended with/without BC (0, 1.5 and 3 %; w/w) and with/without HAP (0 or an equivalent of 8 kg ha⁻¹). Two water regimes, limited and frequent (H₂O _limit , H₂O _frequ ), were applied after day 28 following seedling establishment at 60 % water holding capacity (WHC). In the H₂O _limit treatment, the soil water …