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How does SuperThrive work?
- Thread starter Wolfn
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I didn't think that SUPERthrive did anything of usefulness... however, I could be wrong because I don't use it.
Barry Rice's Report: http://www.sarracenia.com/faq/faq3600.html (I can't see the any pages of the FAQ, can any of you?)
Barry Rice's Report: http://www.sarracenia.com/faq/faq3600.html (I can't see the any pages of the FAQ, can any of you?)
Wolfn
Agent of Chaos
I tried it myself for a while and didn't notice any particular improvement. I know Peter D'Amato recommends it; however, Barry Rice thinks its a waste of money. At least, Rice tried in an experiment with a control group.
I still have some around. Maybe, I'll try a foliar application to a nepenthes that refuses to pitcher and see if there is any improvement.
-Hermes.
I still have some around. Maybe, I'll try a foliar application to a nepenthes that refuses to pitcher and see if there is any improvement.
-Hermes.
Indigo
Learning How To Multiply
I also tried it on neps. it stopped the growth for 2 to 3 weeks and starting to make deform leafs and pitcher. maybe i overdose...
this is how i use it
apply superthrive aprox about 8 drops per 16 fl oz of water ( overdose)
and then spray it on the nepenthes
never use it again since then
Barry Rice has a nice page on it in his faq. However, for reasons unknown to me, his faq is not accessible at the moment. Suffice to say that you will find people who believe it cures cancer and those who think it's a waste of money (& those in between). The only attempt at an actual controlled experiment found no benefit iirc.
Stand facing the plant and then toss the bottle over your right shoulder. With practice, the bottle should land directly in the trash can. This location has been shown unequivocally to provide the maximum benefit to Cephalotus in the northern hemisphere. The Coriolis effect may require that you utilize your left shoulder if you live below the equator.
Barry Rice published the results of some experimentation with SuperThrive and Nepentheses in the March 2009 Carnivorous Plant Newsletter. The experiments suggest no significant effect. In the June 2009 issue Peter D'Amato published rather scathing critique and rebuttal of the methods and results.
If you are an ICPS member back issues are available online in PDF format.
If you haven't used it how much sense does it make to criticize it? "I do not like Green Eggs and Ham..."
Many people swear by Trichoderma where as I had a bad experience with the stuff. You don't hear me calling it snake oil or the trash can is the best place for it (even though that's where it ended up). Nor do you hear me recommending it. Try it first with an open mind, not expecting miracles or disasters, and then form an opinion. If it works for you, use it. If it doesn't, move on.
Peter's recommended usage are in the Savage Garden. Try page 23.
If you are an ICPS member back issues are available online in PDF format.
If you haven't used it how much sense does it make to criticize it? "I do not like Green Eggs and Ham..."
Many people swear by Trichoderma where as I had a bad experience with the stuff. You don't hear me calling it snake oil or the trash can is the best place for it (even though that's where it ended up). Nor do you hear me recommending it. Try it first with an open mind, not expecting miracles or disasters, and then form an opinion. If it works for you, use it. If it doesn't, move on.
Peter's recommended usage are in the Savage Garden. Try page 23.
I'm currently using Superthrive at 1 to 2 drops per gallon. the recommended dosage on the bottle. Also I am currently using Superthrive on my new 16 Hamatas. Both as a root and Foliar feed. They all seem to be growing nicely and have already shown new and bigger growth since I received them.
I'll post some pics of them on here when they show a bit more noticeable growth since I received them. Superthrive will have negative effects though if you use too much of it just like any plant growth product. I just stick to 1 to 2 drops per gallon to avoid any harmful effects.
Although it is your choice on which plant feed product you choose to go with using.
I'll post some pics of them on here when they show a bit more noticeable growth since I received them. Superthrive will have negative effects though if you use too much of it just like any plant growth product. I just stick to 1 to 2 drops per gallon to avoid any harmful effects.
Although it is your choice on which plant feed product you choose to go with using.
IIRC it is simply hormones like B vitamins and such, it's not really a fertilizer any more than Doritos are really food, it's just a filler or snack. Superthrive may give some pizzaz to an already thriving plant but I don't put any stock in it doing anything great. In my early years I used to put a few drops of it in water when I did my nep cuttings but I ran out of it or lost the bottle and did my cuttings without it and they all took just the same so I don't put any stock in it being magical. Save your money man and buy another plant instead! 
As far as your new Cephalotus being stressed, each time I've owned one (one years ago and now a new one from a TFer) when it arrived it pretty much died back and restarted after I took it from the mix it came in and put it into LFS/bark so you'll just have to resign yourself to seeing that happen for the first few months. If you disturb the roots it's gonna happen, as long as conditions are good it'll come back.
As far as your new Cephalotus being stressed, each time I've owned one (one years ago and now a new one from a TFer) when it arrived it pretty much died back and restarted after I took it from the mix it came in and put it into LFS/bark so you'll just have to resign yourself to seeing that happen for the first few months. If you disturb the roots it's gonna happen, as long as conditions are good it'll come back.
Wolfn
Agent of Chaos
Years ago, before the web made finding info easy, someone recommended Superthrive to me. I used it on & off for a while. Unlike the proponents, I could discern neither a benefit nor an issue with its use. After getting a bottle & pouring over the label, I did (& do) get the creeping feeling that I was taken in by a swindler just by purchasing the stuff. The label & its claims seem to be designed for that effect - - ie: "#1 Perfecter"
On Trichoderma, there have been a number of controlled studies (performed by reputable institutions) that show a clear, measurable & statistically significant benefit. Maybe I'm not looking in the right places, but I've yet to find a preponderance of studies (or any) by reputable institutions (or any) that have shown the benefits of Superthrive. Again - maybe I'm not looking in the right place. **
As far as using the stuff, I actually don't have strong opinions either way. I didn't set up any kind of real study to try & test it but I also didn't have any positive observations that caught my attention. As I mentioned above, the label itself makes me feel I've purchased & used snake oil. In general, I think S/T fills the need for CP growers to 'do something'. Typically, we learn quickly when we start growing CPs that classic fertilization is deleterious. Using 'normal' houseplant media is bad. Heck, we even have to let our temperate CPs go to sleep for several months every year to keep them healthy. Using S/T allows growers to feel like they're actually doing something for their plants (a form of grower's placebo). Imho.
** - to be brutally honest, I'm not really looking at all. When I toss out a bit of sarcasm about S/T (as I did in my 1st post), I know the proponents will throw any valid studies in my face, if they exist. If they don't exist, there will be a few arrows in my direction and then 'crickets' as far as proof goes...
<clip> Stand facing the plant and then toss the bottle over your right shoulder. With practice, the bottle should land directly in the trash can. This location has been shown unequivocally to provide the maximum benefit to Cephalotus in the northern hemisphere. The Coriolis effect may require that you utilize your left shoulder if you live below the equator.
Quite possibly one of the funniest things I've seen in a while! That and a video this morning of a guy in a Z06 'vette roasting his clutch and not the tires all the while thinking he was doing some awesome burn out...
I feel the same way. I bought a bottle, read over it and instantly felt taken. It goes against what we're lectured about on almost a daily basis... "If it seems to good to be true, it is." I spent a few long nights trying to find some information on it good or bad but all I found was opinions and no actual creditable studies. I don't think I ever used any of it... Although the bottle may still be in a tub in the greenhouse
at this point, I don't even feel like it's worth my time to do any testing. If there was a reason to do it, I feel like it'd be done by now. I guess that settles it then!
heheAndrew
