I think this is a cool idea/interest, but - and I say this with compassion - you're unlikely to generate serious interest without a degree (not to say doctorate) in chemistry/botany/biology/etc and the published, peer-reviewed research to go with it.

Why not just experiment, for fun, with plants in your garden? (I know this seems like an unrelated topic, but you've mentioned struggles with self-esteem. It seems like you set yourself very high standards. And standards are good, but it can be bad for personal growth (speaking from experience) to only feel comfortable pursuing things that seem totally groundbreaking. It's a vicious superego that demands that and only that. And it can really break you down.)

Why not just experiment, for fun, with plants in your garden? (I know this seems like an unrelated topic, but you've mentioned struggles with self-esteem. It seems like you set yourself very high standards. And standards are good, but it can be bad for personal growth (speaking from experience) to only feel comfortable pursuing things that seem totally groundbreaking. It's a vicious superego that demands that and only that. And it can really break you down. — csalisbury

Well, I intend to test some of the compounds in my own leisure time. I already compiled most of the compounds and requested a lab in China purchase the materials in bulk and send it over to me.

As for self-esteem, I don't know if you read it in detail and given that I am a disciple of 'unenlightened', I concluded that self-esteem is a bogus concept. Most likely some form of much-needed narcissism or feeling 'special'.

First, making your research public isn't, in most cases, bad for startups in niche fields. It stimulates thinking, generates new ideas, and gets people interested in what you're doing - free publicity and may even link you with possible partners. No one can copy your idea, because your research in written form is never sufficient to execute it. There's a lot of hidden, unspoken knowledge that you gain from actually doing the research and that no one else has access to. They can't execute without you, and even if they try they will be much slower than you. On top of that, the pond you're aiming for is relatively small for the big fishes, so only smaller fishes like us can currently become interested by it. So you're quite secure in that regard.

Furthermore, it's a good choice that you don't want to patent it. Even if you wanted to make money from it I would advise against patenting. If you start to sell and become the established person to go to, others can't compete with you very quickly - you'd have a brand advantage. First one there always has an advantage. A patent can be broken in any case if what you're doing is really valuable to someone and you'd be spending quite a lot of time and money getting it.

To develop your idea into reality it must become self-funded. That means that it needs to generate whatever (little or big) income it needs to survive and finance itself, without you putting more money as time goes by into it. If you can succeed to do this, then your idea can thrive and grow. If you can't then your research will always depend on your ability to finance it, and it will pull you down by consuming both time and money (so that you need to work more in your job, or whatever to earn that).

So to do that you need to find a pragmatic value proposition. Find who would be interested and in what, propose your solution to them, convince them, and get them to buy. You need to be pragmatic - not growing plants on Mars (that's gonna happen in more than 10 years) but something that interests people today. You can still keep your ambition to grow plants on Mars and focus research towards that, but your earnings need to come from something that is viable and needed now. For example, Elon Musk wants to do space exploration/colonisation but currently all his rocket launches are used to fuel NASA satellites. This earns him money, which is used to fuel his larger ambitions. So he doesn't want to spend his time to fuel NASA satellites but does it because it's useful to expand his knowledge regarding space travel and understand the potential problems better all the while earning money to finance his projects.

The problem with plant growth enhancement is dealing with the more basic limiting factors of growth (water and soil fertility). These factors have to be dealt with first before any secondary improvement.

There are great ideas for fixing global problems that can't be implemented because there is no financial incentive. The Terra Preta soils of South America made biochar a hot topic, as both a soil amendment that improves growth while also sequestering a stable source of carbon back into the ground. While it is a fantastic idea it is too costly. I'd love to see someone looking for funding a biochar startup on Shark Tank (instead you get disgustingly shit products that siphon off consumer surplus) .

Thank you all for your responses. I really appreciate them and have a good contrast with other places where I posted this. Most of them indicated that the profit motive has already utilized these ideas or other such irrelevant matters.

I have targeted pot growers (due to high-value crop with very careful attention to increasing plant growth, yields, and resin production). If anyone is interested in me sending a sample of the product to you, I can do that at no cost on your end. I'll cover shipping too.

I'm really motivated by the fact that no companies (to the best of my knowledge) have utilized this research in practice. Even the simplest of things that can be derived from this research is to spray coat seeds of various plants with melatonin and shikimic acid. I mean, if you haven't already take a look at the research behind that simple thing. It's really a potentially great idea to work on and develop in my free time...

I sort of feel like those Jesuits discovering or researching plants in their abundantly free time.

I also found a job with a pretty large nursery chain of plants and hope to pitch this idea to some of the employees there who actually have degrees in botany and the life sciences.

Anyway, cheers.

Ahh, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebig's_law_of_the_minimum

Yes; but, even in some cases like with seed priming with stuff like melatonin and shikimic acid or even salicylic acid, harden the plant from stresses such as insufficient water or high salinity.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so be it:

http://imgur.com/NOk6ybg

http://imgur.com/7xOpsmf

http://imgur.com/WZ36owj

I disagree that he needs academic credentials to achieve the success of a new product. Obviously, there is proof of that in articles over the world.

Not sure exactly what kind of advice you are looking for but if your goal is not monetary then consider a non profit status. You can raise the money through investors. You will have to have it tested in an independent lab. Or go on Shark Tank and get rich!
Good luck.