Hey all~ I recently switched my entire set-up to an organic grow... except for one nutrient. Superthrive. While technically not a plant food, it is so rich in B vitamins it has been my staple for preventing plant shock during transplant or cloning. Does anyone know a good alternative to superchemically superthrive?
I looked for the something organic to replace my superthrive a while back and I found this stuff. It's a concentrated supplement with lots of goodies inside. You use it with the same concentration as superthrive - just a few drops per gallon with every watering works well
I've switched to liquid kelp, and never looked back. You can make a kelp tea from raw organic kelp which is the most economic way, or you can buy liquid seaweed products such as Neptune's Harvest or MaxiCrop. Or, you can buy a soluble kelp powder that can be mixed to make a liquid concentrate, which is what I do. Kelp ( make sure that it is ascophyllum nodosum) has many qualities. Here is a rundown of it's many benefits: Soluble Kelp Powder is a natural plant growth stimulant obtained by alkaline hydrolysis of the seaweed plant Ascophyllum Nodosum. Soluble Kelp Powder contains a natural balance of major and minor nutrients, enzymes, amino acids, humic acids and other organic substances totaling over 60 elements. TYPICAL ANALYSIS: Nitrogen..........1 - 2% Phosphorous...0.23% Potash................6% Also contains trace amounts of Sulfur, Magnesium, Calcium, Sodium, Boron, Iron, Manganese, Copper, Zinc, and carbohydrates. Benefits of Soluble Kelp Powder: [*]Improves seed germination and increases root development. [*]Increases bloom set and size of flowers and fruit. [*]Increases and stabilizes chlorophyll in plants, which results in darker green leaves and increased sugar content in plants. [*]Relieves stress in plants caused by extreme weather conditions. [*]Increases plant vigor, and thus imparts a greater resistance to disease, insect attack, drought, and frost. [*]Increases microorganisms in the soil that can fix nitrogen from the air. [*]Increases mineral uptake from the soil and into the plant. [*]Increases the storage life of fruits and vegetables by retarding the loss of protein, chlorophyll, and RNA. [*]Retards the aging process in plants (senescence), thereby lengthening the production season. [*]Many of the trace minerals contained in seaweed have important regulatory functions when applied to land plants, and in the animals and humans that consume the plants. IMO, SuperThrive doesn't even come close to Kelp........give it a try. cheers, chunk
chunk, I have some of the kelp powder and I am just at 14 days today for my new plants. I am using Adv. Nutes Mother Earth Tea, Botanicare Pro Gro and Dyna Protekt as a mix for the very first feeding. I have my organic mix concocted but waiting until 4 weeks or so when I transplant to use it. Can I use the regular dosage of the kelp powder with these nutes? Was planning on having my wife fertilize them tonight or tomorrow. They are "asking" for food. I believe they are showing the typical yellowing at two weeks that indicates their being hungry. always appreciate your input. JaK
JaK, I use 1 tsp/ga of the pre-mixed concentrated kelp solution on seedlings and freshly rooted clones. You can also use as a foliar spray. Kelp is also a great rooting soak. I'm not familiar with the other stuff you mentioned, but if your plants are hungry and you've got a soil set up, I'd go ahead and transplant. Just me though, I've had plants go from lime green to deep green in a couple of days from transplant just from the food in the soil. HTH chunk
chunk, this is the soil I built. I think what I will do is transplant a couple of the three into my new soil, like you said, and leave one in the existing mix and use the ferts I currently have. Since it is my first grow with this mix, I am still a little apprehensive about overkill on the minerals. thanks again for the ideas, chunk. also, in regards to the superthrive, wasn't there some strong discussion on here about it containing some pretty toxic stuff? Didn't Lumper participate in "getting it off the shelves" in Oregon, or something like that? JaK SOIL: FFOF/FFLW... I know, I know, but I need to use these things up as I spent good money on them. Will get better media next time. WormGold EWC (next grow AgroWinn EWC) I am going to boost the overrated FFOF/FFLW "faux dirt" mix with the following goods: Minerals/Nutrients: Sul Po Mag (Greensense) Down to Earth Bone Meal 3-15-0 Down to Earth Kelp Meal 1-0.1-2 Down to Earth Greensand 0-0-3 Greensense Dolomite Lime Whitney Farms Alfalfa Meal 2-0.5-2 BioAg Myc Fungi TM 7 KIS Seaweed Powder Growmore Seaweed Extract Dyna Pro Tekt Neem Oil (Ahimsa Organics) I am currently working on the exact mix I want to use, but one thing I do want to clarify is the mixing of the ingredients. I am going to mix all the nutes together and add them to the EWC, then the FFOF/FFLW. I was using a 50/50 mix of the two FF products. I have three, 3 gallon pots to fill. I want to lighten up on the FFLW and add the balance as EWC. So, here is what I was thinking for a total mix: 4.0 gallons FFOF 3.5 gallons FFLW 1.5 gallons EWC 1.0 c. Bone Meal 1.0 c. Kelp Meal 1.0 c. Greensand 1.0 c. Alfalfa Meal 1/4 c. Dolomite Lime (?????) Sul Po Mag (??????????????)
It would appear that the learning curve using an iPad has struck again. I seemed to have enabled a number of features in trying to read on this device. That or the iPhone weirdness and how it handles cookies and cache settings. I think I'll have cable web access back again very soon. It's working now. LD
I did a little research on this acid, and it is very interesting. Pretty much all the articles were about how it is one of the most prevalent chemicals in the brain. If brain was the source of superthrive, I understand why they hide it. It's like soilent yellow! I also read some good articles where people did scientific style tests with superthrive, and it seems to be unanimous that it's only good as a rooting hormone, and has little effect on plants after they've rooted well. I am now convinced that superthrive does not live up to it's hype, and will use the remaining bottle for rooting only.
I as I mentioned in the other thread where ST came up, I had a really really bad experience with it. I was sprouting seeds it Jiffy peat pucks (6 with ST, 6 w/o) the ones w/o ST popped up after 1 day and are still growing strong...the strongest in my tent. the ones with ST didn't even pop up after 3 days in the pucks. I have since trashed all of these due to slow/skewed growth. When i added the ST, I put only 1 drop in the middle of my wetted puck. apparently this was too much for seeds. From the labels, I would imagine that those particular plants to be 10 feet tall by now. I'm done using that shit...SO glad that i only bought a $4 smalle bottle
Have any of you tried Dr.Earth potting soil??? I just started using it and so far it seems to work great.
jrgnh09, I have used Dr. Earth's dry organic fertilizer products and they are very fine indeed. I have never used their soils however, but with the integrity of their fertilizers, I would be confident in the quality of their soils. HTH chunk
I figure with there soil, I shouldn't have to add anything. I am, however, going to use their bud and bloom formula during the flower stage.
I stopped at their booth at a trade show last week - very nice soil mixes and they looked to be a good value. LD
You may want to rethink that strategy otherwise you may end up 'chasing the chicken' about half way through your grow. The plants are going to need nutrient replenishment as they grow through their life-cycle. And, depending on your watering style, i.e. leachate, leaching, etc, some of the needed nutrients will wash out of the container. Phosphate is specifically prone to washing out the bottom of your container. Synthetic nutrient discussion withstanding, "leaching" as a practice is not a good thing for nutrient management. Remember this as part of your grow notes and grow strategy; a plant will only grow as fast as the last available nutrient factor will allow for. This means, all other nutrients being available and ready for use are limited by the ONE nutrient (micro or macro) that is in the LEAST available supply and that which the plant needs NOW. HTH's.
After giving the original post a lot of thought and after talking it over with my Yellow Lab, RDawgz, I think that I have formulated the best alternative to Superthrive - whether you're growing organically, transitionally or conventionally. Use distilled water and you're good to go! HTH LD
The instructions call for a couple drops per GALLON of water. How much water does a juffy puck hold,an ounce? Thats like 64 times the strength you were supposed to add... What led you to believe that a drop per jiffy puck would be OK?? Was it just random logic? And then you call it "shit" for not growing 10 foot trees? don't get your logic bro.
I agree, It seems like I overdid it on that occasion BUT i still have had better results sans superthrive. In 3 grows (current on being the third) I haven't seen any positive results from ST, YET, I have seen better results from not using it. That's a good enough reason for me not to use it/encourage others not to.