Plant growth and developmental processes are affected by both absences of light and salinity stress. Light and salinity affect the plant’s essential nutrients by affecting the mineral uptake through the rooting system. A pot experiment was conducted under the ambient condition of Turbat, Balochistan, to explore etiolation and de-etiolation response of maize hybrid (SP-17S23) to salinity stress under exogenous application of plant growth regulators (PGRs). Maize seedlings in three sets, i.e., non-etiolated, etiolated, de-etiolated, subjected to salinity stress (120 mM NaCl) after 15 days of seed germination. After a week, the seedlings were sprayed with optimized levels of PGRs, including thiourea (10 mM), salicylic acid (250 µM), and Kinetin (3 µM). Salinity stress affected maize growth by affecting the nutritional status. Salinity negatively affects plant’s nutrient contents such as (Nitrate, K, Mg). However, the foliar supplementation of PGRs significantly enhanced the nutrient content under salinity. Concludingly, the data recommend that foliar application of PGRs plays a key role in hampering the impacts of salinity by improving plant’s nutrients contents, thereby improving the growth of plants.
