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Worm and insect juice secret to record ButchT?

The roots think they're being attacked by insects so they produce more capsaicin? I don't know if I would call that a reasonable assumption or not. Or did I miss the part of the article that says that theory was scientifically proven?
 
patrick said:
The roots think they're being attacked by insects so they produce more capsaicin? I don't know if I would call that a reasonable assumption or not. Or did I miss the part of the article that says that theory was scientifically proven?
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Not that I saw, it was just a theory stated by the plant scientist guy that the Chili Factory was working with, Sounds like an experiment is in order. Personally I think it was probably just the worm juice. I know the Giant Pumpkin growing crowd swears by that and aerated compost teas.
 
Try talking to the guy, I'm friends with the company, they use 1ml of worm juice weekly, and they rarely need to treat their plants for anything ever, occasional sprays for some insects, but very healthy plants. Can pick up a worm farm really cheap for your own worm juice. Apparently the stuff has a long shelf life before becoming unusable.
 
fubarhouse said:
Try talking to the guy, I'm friends with the company, they use 1ml of worm juice weekly, and they rarely need to treat their plants for anything ever, occasional sprays for some insects, but very healthy plants. Can pick up a worm farm really cheap for your own worm juice. Apparently the stuff has a long shelf life before becoming unusable.
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They just use 1mL???
 
I just did a little research on CHITIN which is the exoskeleton of insects and various marine crustaceans like shrimp, crab, and lobster. It appears that there is use for it in agriculture since it triggers a plants natural defense mechanisms, thereby in theory should produce hotter peppers. I think next year I will do a little experiment by having a nice shrimp feast on the day of plant-out and throwing a few shrimp shells into each pot. As for the worm juice I have seen it sold in containers at various garden centers and Home Depot. Here is a link about chitin:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chitin
 
Lobster compost made by a company called, Coast of Maine...Just bought a 28 qt. bag today and am very curious to give it a whirl..
 
patrick said:
The roots think they're being attacked by insects so they produce more capsaicin? I don't know if I would call that a reasonable assumption or not. Or did I miss the part of the article that says that theory was scientifically proven?
Click to expand...

I'd say its a n unreasonable assumption; you're absolutely right that you didn't overlook any amazing scientific data. No citations given is the first citation that the article just might be full of fertilizer. The fact that worms aren't insects lnor have they ever been), is a sign they're playing fast-and-loose with a lot of details.

This isn't a "theory" that they're proposing -- it's an untested hypothesis. They could test it pretty easily following a very modest protocol, but they didn't.
 
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