I don't think we can categorically say that if you have good soil it won't affect growth, because the truth is, it can. I had written a piece about 'Superthrive' based on my own experience. Someone from Stemma (an online magazine) saw it and asked if they could publish it. You may or may not find it of interest - skip it if you think you won't: Superthrive or Superjivecolor>size> The question regarding the value of Superthrive as a miracle tonic for plants is often bandied about in horticultural circles. Over the years, I had read claims that ranged from, "I put it on my plant, which had never bloomed, and it 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, you will probably only find the manufacturers claims and anecdotal observations, both so in want of anything that resembles a control. Though my experiments were far from purely 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 any value the product Superthrive might hold for me. On four separate occasions, I took multiple cuttings of plants in four different genera. In each case the group of cuttings were taken from the same individual plant to reduce genetic variance. 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. The containers containing half of the cuttings were immersed/soaked in a Superthrive solution of approximately 1/2 tsp per gallon of water to the upper soil line. The other half of the cuttings were watered in with water only. In subsequent waterings, I would water the "Superthrive batch" of cuttings with a solution of 10 drops per gallon and the others with only water. The same fertilizer regimen was followed on both groups of cuttings. In all four instances, the cuttings that I used Superthrive on rooted and showed new growth first. For this reason, it follows that they would naturally exhibit better development, though I could see no difference in overall vitality, once rooted. I can also say that a slightly higher percentage of cuttings rooted that were treated with the Superthrive treatment at the outset. I suspect that is directly related to the effects of the auxin in Superthrive hastening initiation of root primordia before potential vascular connections were destroyed by rot causing organisms. In particular, something I looked for because of my affinity for a compact form in plants was branch (stem) extension. (The writer is a bonsai practitioner.) Though the cuttings treated with Superthrive rooted sooner, they exhibited the same amount of branch extension. In other words, internode length was approximately equal and no difference in leaf size was noted. 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/fertilizer only program, while the other group was treated to an additional 10 drops of Superthrive in each gallon of fertilizer solution. 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 experiment in four different trials, using four different plant materials, I am quite comfortable in drawing some conclusions as they apply to me and my growing habits or abilities. First, and based on my observations, I have concluded that Superthrive does hold 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 often bare-rooted repots in a solution of 1/2 tsp Superthrive per gallon of water. Second, and also based on my observations, I no longer 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. Interestingly, the first ingredient listed as being beneficial to plants 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 even 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

No offense, I hope: Super Thrive has been around for decades and there is no reliable evidence that it does anything except promote the rooting of cuttings, which it does because it contains the same ingredient as Rootone, though at greater expense. The value of added Vitamin B has been disproved in scientific trials subsequent to one early, badly designed experiment that showed positive results. People may say it works because they used it and their plants grew. But we can't learn anything unless there is a control group of identical plants treated identically except for the use of Super Thrive or not. And you need two good-sized groups of plants to run a test that means something. You can find reports on the web where amateurs have done experiments with fairly reasonable controls and gotten negative results for ST (except for rooting cuttings).

IMHO, after using it for a little while with cuttings, a dying red tip, front lawn and even in my compost tea: 1) They need a new ad campaign.....or at least stop hiring from the "Weekly World News" staff :) 2) It helps with cuttings some.....just don't expect miracles. 3) It doesn't do squat in any other situation and there is probably a cheaper alternative.....although why not just spen $10 every 3-4 years rather than look for an alternative. Personally, I can't help but wonder if the added attention to the dying plants helps more than the actual stuff in the bottle. I made really sure to include superthrive and since it was fun thinking I was doing something, it made me stick to a tighter schedule. I heard an Indian tale that if you have a backache, go find a certain type of stone and it will cure it. It's not the stone that cured your backache.....its the exercise and stretching (and taking your mind off of it) while you are looking that is the REAL cure. Again....before you blast me....this is all MY opinion.

Listen, guys, here is the deal. I am not in any way saying that VF-11 is no good. It is good, but is NOT A MIRACLE. It has all the right stuff. Just like many fertilizers. There is no such thing as "immediate" results. Another thing is, what makes a flowering plant bloom is plenty of real light, sunshine; fertilizer that is high in second and third number on a bottle (0.01-0.3-0.7 for example) high-phosphorus fertilizer. SuperThrive is a hormone that might help your plants grow a bit faster. It helped mine. Another thing with SuperThrive, it is not a MIRACALE. No "one drop per gallon" stuff! I use a teaspoon a gallon and that seems to work. Another thing, Hoyas come from all over the world. Some like it hot and sunny, and some like it shady. They are (most of them) considered succulents. If you are really into giving them what they want, check out where your particular Hoya came from originally (I do not mean nursery in Chicago). If it is originated in Thailand, you can check what climate it is there and try to simulate the climate yourself. But it is too much work. I grow my Hoyas under special florescent lights and they are doing fine. This is what I have learned from reading books, and talking to people: You want them to grow use hormone filled fertilizer. Fertilizers with high amount of nitrogen will produce rapid but week growth. You want them to bloom use High-Phosphorus one. Take your Hoyas outside in a nice, sunny day. Do not over-spray Hoyas-Wet leaves mean fungus. Again, none of this is a "rule of thumb", but this is what helped me to take care of my plants. Common sense, knowledge of your plant origins, and some knowledge of a plant structure and function (botany stuff) is what you need to make any plant happy1