Hey all, Someone asked for any positive results form Superthrive. I came upon this product back in 1982 in Vicksburg, MS. I bought some African Violets from a woman who grew them to sell and was member of the African Violet Society. She had the most healthy violets I had ever seen, with enormous leaves. I asked her what she did to get them so healthy. Among her secrets, she recommened Superthrive. I have used it faithfully since then. From 1990 to 1995 I had my own violet business. I sold finished plants to florists and leaves by mail order, and I was an active member of the African Violet Society. I consistently grew plants that were 18"-24" in diameter, and I have pictures to prove it. My regimen included 12 hours of flourecent light per day as well as 1/4 tsp of peters fertilizer and 1 drop of Supethrive per gallon of water at every watering. It was during this time that I started using it on other plants. I used it on bare root roses, soaking them in a bucket overnight with a few teasooons of ST. I also used in on stressed plants to revive them. From 1997-2002 I was a involved with the interior plantscaping industry and I introduced ST to my staff as part of our company's normal plant care regimen. Within one year our replacements dropped by 10%. In 2003 I became the conservatory manager for Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens in Richmond, VA. It was a brand new facility with mostly brand new plants and some older plants. All were direct planted into beds or new clay pots. We used superthive as part of our watering schedule once a week for the 3 years I was there. The plants were very healthy looking. We received many comliments on the health and beauty of our plants. I now work as a landscaper and I use ST on all our new installations and I also give it to all my customers. I continue to use it regularly on my own landscape and house plants. I have never claimed that it would revive a dead plant nor will it perform miracles. My experience is that it works very well for new cuttings, transplants, and stressed plants. It also helps to maintain healthy plants. Whatever it has in it, it does stimulate the plant. I have seen it stimulate a plant to produce leaves when it doesn't have any. I will not say that it directly produces flowers, but a healthy plant will flower. I think it may have trace elements in it. Most fertilizers do not have the other 13 elements that plants need besides the big three of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. That may be why it is like a breath of fresh air when it is given to a stressed plant. If you have a plant that is already healthy and you use ST, it probably will not show much of a difference, because the plant is getting everything it needs. Ie...not all plants need fertilizer. They need it only if the soil is depleted of certain nutrients. It may be that your plant does not need what is in ST at the moment because the soil is still fertile. If you do nothing to the soil, it will eventually be depleted of certain nutrients, especially micronutrients which are not included in regular fertilizer. I will say this...Superthive is not snakeoil. It is like any other product. It depends on the situation and the way it is used as to whether you see big results ot little results. I for one, will never be without it.

In a much earlier post, you showed us a picture of an adult beetle which is the eyed click beetle. If what you call "wireworms" are indeed the youngsters of the eyed click beetle, they don't bore trees. Instead, eyed click beetle wireworms kill borers that bore trees. Boring beetles are in the tree because the tree has been stressed. (From the bit of history you've given above, it sounds like the stress has been going on for a long time.) Bottom line #1: If the wireworms you see are the youngsters of the eyed click beetle, they *aren't* damaging your tree. Bottom line #2: To delay the loss of your tree, you need to find out what has gone wrong, then correct it -- if that's possible.

I have a very large assortment of FS canisters. Sizes from the 6 qt. all the way down to 1 pint. The smaller diameter ones have domed tops instead of the concave type on the big 6 quart models. I have been buying many of the canisters for several years now and was still able to get another of the narrower but taller ones just for the loins. The phosphates help the pork hold onto moisture, as well as acting as a binder. It MUST be dissolved in water all by itself, and can take several minutes of continual stirring. I usually do it in a drinking glass. About a tablespoon or two of the phosphates are used per gallon of brine, more than that and it can bet a 'bleachy' taste. Once dissolved, its added to the balance of water in the brine mixture along with the nitrite cure #1. A good digital scale able to weigh up to 25 pounds can help too. Mine was cheap and is a godsend when it comes to weighing meats before and after injection of brines. I also use it to weigh the ground pork for sausages, so I can usually figure out how much seasonings and salt to use. I like to inject the brine as much as possible into a loin. Its because its quite dry once its cooked, and with the extra brine it helps or retain more moisture. You can't overdo the injection, as it can only hold so much of the brine. I usually use the same injection ratio for pastrami/corned beef. 4 oz per gallon of the nitrites is way too much!! Sausage Maker site- http://www.sausagemaker.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=2 Has the cures and usually needs about 1 teaspoon per 5 pounds of meat. With a gallon of brine, the nitrite can be up to about a tablespoon. Keep in mind the nitrites are only about 30% of the actual pink granuated product, the other 70% is salt. They do this so you can measure more accurately by diluting it so it will not be as difficult to measure. Sometimes the bags of brine mix will include the nitrite as an added packet and they also usually have some basic instructions on how much to add to the quantity of water. Think of the measurements of the total liquid in the brine, and not the weight of the pork loin. Adding maple syrup to the brine is fine. In a gallon of brine, a couple of teaspoons of maple syrup is very small. I would add about a half cup to a gallon of brine. Keep in mind it will make it slightly sweeter, but still has a mild maple flavor when used with a little liquid hockory smoke flavor. The brine mixes usually have salt, brown sugar and some other minor things. Usually when I bake mine at that low 175 degree oven its about 3 hours in the oven. After 2 hours I raise the oven temp to about 200 degrees. I use a digital probe thermometer to measure internal temp. 160 is the max, 150 is fine too. Follow the instructions on the cure mix for baking etc. I don't have a smoker here so I use the liquid smoke. When I do beef pastrami that can be in the oven about 6 or more hours before it reaches 140-150. If you plan to make some with the added herbs, they would be chopped up in the brine, but NOT injected as they can clog the needle. In that case but don't add the smoke, maple or any other flavors. Sage, thyme, and even pepper, and garlic are OK, but the amounts you mention are still a bit small for a gallon of brine. If your only going to do a 5 pound piece, then make a half gallon of brine and half all the other additives. Never reuse a brine, never mix it and then refrigerate if its not injected right after mixing. For sugar, they use dextrose which holds up better to heat compared to cane. As mentioned, the brine mixes already contain brown sugar. Bake the loing untrimmed, fat side up. I cover mine with foil so it doesn't dry out too much while baking. Your loins should keep for at least 10 days in the cold part of the fridge.

Last year, after losing a lovely small grove of hemlock (which shaded our deck and screened it from neighbors' view) to woolly adelgids, I wrestled with my conscience over managing the remaining hemlocks on our 1-acre property. They are tall, mature trees, and spraying dormant oil just didn't seem practical on a DIY basis. I finally decided that I would apply imidicloprid as a drench to the soil around TWO trees, the closest to our house. It seemed to me that as this would apply to a conifer which just releases its pollen (vs depending on insects), the effect on honeybees would be mitigated. There are other hemlocks a bit further away, which I opted not to treat--close to water, and had to draw the line somewhere. Not an easy decision to make either way. I am a lymphoma survivor and don't regard chemicals lightly--Monsanto studies notwithstanding, the incidence of NHL is much higher in farmers and foresters, who are exposed to herbicides and the like... Massive applications of insecticide or chemicals are not going to wipe out the Asian longhorned beetle--it didn't work with the American chestnut or the American elm--at best it would only delay the inevitable. And I'm not sure I want to be consuming maple syrup from a tree that's been treated with a systemic insecticide. But the thought of our beautiful sugar maples disappearing is almost unbearable. Do I sound conflicted enough, LOL?