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Do you SuperThrive?

PeteyPepper

PeteyPepper

Alright, the lively discussion in AJ Jack's thread got me thinking...which can be dangerous at times.:lol:


Frankly, I never heard of superthrive until I started reading threads on this forum and made my first visit to a hydro store last weekend. When I first located the product in the store I thought to myself "wtf is this"! It looked like something that should have had the "As Advertised on TV" logo on it. I asked the guy stocking the shelves "exactly what is this stuff and what does it do"? His reply was "it is a booster, but only use a couple of drops or it will mutate your plants"!

Well the phrase "mutate your plants" kinda raised a couple red flags right off the bat, but I ignored them. I said, "hmmm, but does it WORK"? He said "absolutely". Ok, I thought, I'll give it a try, mutants or not.

So, my second year into growing peppers and my first doing it semi-seriously, I am using superthrive. It has only been a week since I started the 2 drops per gallon regimen and I honestly haven't noticed anything superb happen to my seedlings. I understand that the product is B-1 and auxin and that there are many unknowns but I will continue to use it (along with FoxFarm fertilizer) this year. I am really interested in determining for myself if this product is really cracked-up to be everything that it claims to be.

Do you use SuperThrive? What has your experience been? Snake-oil or wonder substance?
 
I don't use it. I never saw the point. Oh, it's not snake oil, there are B vitamins and auxin in it, but I want my plants to grow, not stretch.
 
Pam said:
I don't use it. I never saw the point. Oh, it's not snake oil, there are B vitamins and auxin in it, but I want my plants to grow, not stretch.
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stretch...like rapid cell division?
 
PeteyPepper said:
stretch...like rapid cell division?
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Stretch, like stretch *and* put more energy into internode length as opposed to leaf production and branching.
 
I asked this question in another thread and never got a definative answer. I'll pour chemicals on my plants if they will help but yeah i though about the snake oil aspect aswell. It hasn't ruined my plants but as a first year grower i have no clue as to if it has helped them, except for the mully- it loves it.

Rapid cell division would encourage leggyness too wouldn't it?

Also have you noticed that superthrive smells like cats piss?
 
Novacastrian said:
I asked this question in another thread and never got a definative answer. I'll pour chemicals on my plants if they will help but yeah i though about the snake oil aspect aswell. It hasn't ruined my plants but as a first year grower i have no clue as to if it has helped them, except for the mully- it loves it.

Rapid cell division would encourage leggyness too wouldn't it?
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Not so much legginess, because they're not frail; but they go straight up with no branching and long internodes



Also have you noticed that superthrive smells like cats piss?
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I tried to explain to Fiddler and Zoe that they were pissing away our fortune, but I never could convince them to pee in a bottle.
 
Pam,

If you hold the right part in the right way, F & Z can fill a bottle. You just need to be committed.

Mike
 
wordwiz said:
Pam,
You just need to be committed.
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The voices said I was just fine!!! They said a little peroxide would get the blood out and no one would ever know!!!


*harumph!*
 
Sorry Pam just bought to mind a certain episode of Southpark where the kids, instead of doing drugs they sniff cats piss. Funny episode.

Instead of smoking pot and being called a stoner they get cats to piss in their face and get off their face... they are called "cheesers".

I know, i need to get a life:)
 
Instead of smoking pot and being called a stoner they get cats to piss in their face and get off their face... they are called "cheesers".

I know, i need to get a life
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I must need to get a life also, because that was a great episode.

And I have used superthrive, plants grew really tall, but not much production out of them.
 
Great Southpark episode:)
I've used superthrive with success in the past, but I try to avoid the hormones now.
 
Novacastrian said:
Sorry Pam just bought to mind a certain episode of Southpark where the kids, instead of doing drugs they sniff cats piss. Funny episode.

Instead of smoking pot and being called a stoner they get cats to piss in their face and get off their face... they are called "cheesers".

I know, i need to get a life:)
Click to expand...


No, no, it's just I don't have cable, got really pissed off and swore never to deal with Time Warner again. I found I didn't miss TV very much, so I've never done anything about it. That does mean I miss a few things like South Park, but I'm sure I'll see it on DVD at some point.


...but back to Superthrive, I think the snake oil aspect of it is that the plants look like they're growing great guns because they do go up fast, but it's not necessarily the best way for the plant to grow.

Actually, if you dig around and find some of AJ's plant threads from last spring, you'll see a good example of excess auxin. Aj's plants were huge, but he noticed he wasn't getting any buds or flowers. I noticed none of them had any branches. He went digging for answers and found he was using the wrong hydro nutrient solution. When he switched to one that had less auxin, or no auxin or something, he got the results he wanted.
 
Pam said:
No, no, it's just I don't have cable, got really pissed off and swore never to deal with Time Warner again. I found I didn't miss TV very much, so I've never done anything about it. That does mean I miss a few things like South Park, but I'm sure I'll see it on DVD at some point.


...but back to Superthrive, I think the snake oil aspect of it is that the plants look like they're growing great guns because they do go up fast, but it's not necessarily the best way for the plant to grow.

Actually, if you dig around and find some of AJ's plant threads from last spring, you'll see a good example of excess auxin. Aj's plants were huge, but he noticed he wasn't getting any buds or flowers. I noticed none of them had any branches. He went digging for answers and found he was using the wrong hydro nutrient solution. When he switched to one that had less auxin, or no auxin or something, he got the results he wanted.
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Not to be argumentative, but is there a definition of excess auxin? Or, said another way, is the addition of auxin over and above what the plant naturally produces, excess? Is it necessarily harmful or bad if given in moderation?

I think there are several schools of thought on this...
 
simply put, yes, too much auxin for the plant at the wrong time is not good....from what I read yesterday, three different level of auxin concentration are used for three different type growth, stem, buds, and roots...for instance, if it is time for your plant to start flowering and you have the auxin concentration for stem, the auxin will actually differentiate the cells to continue stem growth and inhibit bud formation.

I posted this link on another thread, if you want to know about auxin and its effects on the plants growth cycle, read post 103 at this link...it also has the link to a book titled "Auxins and Plant Growth."

http://www.thehotpepper.com/showthread.php?t=9738&page=4
 
PeteyPepper said:
Not to be argumentative, but is there a definition of excess auxin? Or, said another way, is the addition of auxin over and above what the plant naturally produces, excess? Is it necessarily harmful or bad if given in moderation?

I think there are several schools of thought on this...
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Sure, there are lots of school of thought and piles of research. Go google it. AJ made a post somewhere last night about researching the subject and the complexities of using auxin. And if you're getting the results you want, then clearly it isn't an excess.

I was just giving you one example that is here on THP, complete with pictures and explanations where someone using lots of auxin wasn't getting the results they wanted. AJ switched to using a different hydroponic nutrient solution, one that had a different balance of plant hormones or nutrients, one that didn't give the plants an excess of auxin; and he was very pleased with his results.

If you want an off the cuff definition of excess auxin, I would say that if the amount of auxin you are giving your plant overwhelms and blocks the function of the other plant hormones, you're giving too much. Unless, of course, you *want* very tall, very straight with little to no branching plants that don't bloom or produce well.
 
Hormones are a great power, and with great power comes great responsibility. basically you don't want to over-do it (it'll actually cause fatal damage and not "mutations") and balance is extremely important.
 
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