If it is high phosphorus, I won't compost it. I can put it the city wide compost. I think just using a tiny bit to root the plant won't be too much phosphorus, but since it spoiled. It used to be greenish blue but think it is now growing some kind of black mold. The color is moving towards black. It's not just chemical smell. It does come from Canada and the label is in french and English. I wonder why I was able to buy it here? Anyway it did not work either. I was trying to water root some plants and that practice hardier ever works for me. But, I found out that it is rooting them in soil and not water. I only bought it because there was no internet and it was all I could find back then. I want just plain rooting hormone.

GardenGal - I've shared this here at GW several times & on a couple of other forum sites as well. The title has been the same since I wrote it back in '98 or so. ;o) Superthrive or Superjivesize> The question of the value of Superthrive as a miracle tonic for plants is often bandied about in horticultural circles. Several years ago, after reading claims that range from "I put it on and my plant, which had never bloomed, was in full bloom the next day" to "It was dead - I put Superthrive on it and the next day it was alive and beautiful, growing better than it ever had before", I decided to find out for myself. If you look for information on the net, youll find the manufacturerÂs claims and anecdotal observations, totally lacking in anything that resembles anything like a control. Though my experiments were far from scientific, I tried to keep some loose controls in place so that I could make a fair judgment of its value, based my own observations. Here is what I did, what I found, and the conclusions I made about my use of the product "Superthrive". On four separate occasions, I took multiple cuttings from the same plant. The plant materials I used were: Ficus benjamina, (a tropical weeping fig) Luna apiculata (Peruvian myrtle), Chaenorrhinum minus (a dwarf snapdragon), and an unknown variety of Coleus. In each instance, I prepared cuttings from the same plant and inserted them in a very fast, sterile soil. Half of the cuttings were soaked in a Superthrive solution of approximately 1/2 tsp per gallon of water. The other half of the cuttings were watered in with water. In subsequent waterings, I would water the "Superthrive batch" of cuttings with a solution of 10 drops per gallon and the others with water. The same fertilizer regimen was followed on both groups of cuttings. In all four instances, the cuttings that I used Superthrive on rooted first. For this reason, it follows that they would naturally exhibit better development, though I could see no difference in vitality, once rooted. I can also say that a slightly higher percentage f cuttings rooted that were treated to the Superthrive treatment. I suspect that is directly related to the effects of the auxin in Superthrive hastening root initiation before potential vascular connections were destroyed by rot causing organisms. In particular, something I looked for because of my affinity for compact branching in plants was branch (stem) extension. Though the cuttings treated with Superthrive rooted sooner, they exhibited the same amount of branch extension. In other words, internode length was approximately equal. As a second part to each of my "experiments", I divided the group of cuttings that had not been treated with Superthrive into two groups. One of the groups remained on the water only program, while the other group was treated to a 10 drop per gallon solution of Superthrive. Again, the fertilizer regimen was the same for both groups. By summerÂs end, I could detect no difference in bio-mass or vitality between the two groups of plants. Since I replicated the above in four different trials, using four different plant materials, IÂm confident in drawing some conclusions as they apply to me and my growing habits or abilities. First, based on my observations, I have concluded that Superthrive holds value for me as a rooting aid, or stimulant if you prefer. I regularly soak the soil, usually overnight, of my newly root-pruned and usually bare-rooted repots in a solution of 1/2 tsp Superthrive per gallon of water. Second, and also based on my observations, I donÂt bother with its use at any time other than at repotting. No evidence was accumulated through the 4 trials to convince me that Superthrive was of any value as a "tonic" for plants with roots that were beyond the initiation or recovery stage. The first ingredient listed as beneficial on the Superthrive label is vitamin B-1 (or thiamine). Growing plants are able to synthesize their own vitamin B-1 as do many of the fungi and bacteria having relationships with plant roots, so it's extremely doubtful that vitamin B-1 could be deficient in soils or that a growing plant could exhibit a vitamin B-1 deficiency. Some will note that I used more of the product than suggested on the container. I wanted to see if any unwanted effects surfaced as well as trying to be sure there was ample opportunity for clear delineation between the groups. I suspect that if a more dilute solution was used, the difference between groups would have been less clear. It might be worth noting that since the product contains the growth regulator (hormone) auxin, its overuse can cause defoliation, at least in dicots. The broad-leaf weed killer Weed-B-Gone and the infamous Agent Orange, a defoliant that saw widespread use in Viet Nam, are little more than synthetic auxin. Al Fassezke

The more I think on it, the more I wonder why I never thought about it before. Typically, I only use this on hosta for their soak before planting. My thoughts now are it makes lotsa sense that when plants go dormant, roots do continue to grow, so sure! . but I feel there is a but in there somewhere on with hosta being induced into dormancy by environmental factors that they could be pushed into leaf growth if done too soon after bloom? I need coffee n think more... n read more what others say

GraceNmercy, micorrhizae are indeed fascinating organisms, and research within natural settings continues to show a huge array of species and relationships out there. But.........all research I've seen so far attempting to show a positive response from proprietary products has been dissappointing, save for a few studies in sterile soils such as mine tailings, where a response was noted and measured. So what I'm saying is that, while nature is doing this all over the place, and in ways we've just barely begun to understand, human efforts to provide a beneficial product have mostly failed so far. What you can do to ensure survival of your trees is A) Plant them in native soil-no amendments around the backfill area, B) Inspect root systems when you take them out of their pots and correct or attempt to correct any winding, circling roots you see. Also on that score, some practitioners have actually begun to wash or otherwise remove all of the potting mix, which is almost surely of a drastically different texture than the soil into which the plants will be going. this is to ensure water movement into the original rootball. Remember, there are no roots initially beyond this rootball. If that thing dries out, the plant will die. C) Try to water in a timely fashion. May be easier said than done, I know. FWIW, I've planted thousands of seedlings with no watering ever, and had most survive. Some which went into the ground as little as three and four years ago are now approaching twenty feet in height. So it can work! Mycorrhizal products will come on line at some point, that do actually work. That is my belief and I consider it the future of all cropping systems. We're just not there yet. It's highly complex stuff, and so far at least, I do not believe we've solved issues of survival, proper matching of fungal component to plant species, etc. +oM