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.

Well,he did say he only saw a difference when used for rooting and not as an ongoing supplement. Last spring was my first year planting anything and I watered in all my transplants with ST and maxicrop. I didnt have any problems with transplant shock. I dont know it maybe it was the maxicrop, but still..... I have a more planting to do. Maybe I will try one with maxicrop alone and one with ST alone. And then again, I think it is probably like a lot of things in gardening. I mean, I have read a some of the threads that argue against ST, but this spring, I went right out and bought a new bottle of it anyway. If it makes you feel good and doesnt hurt the plant, (and you are willing to spend the money) does it really matter all that much? KW

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.

I'm also speaking without experience, but I imagine you can't use it just before an expected freeze because there would not be enough time for it to work. Maybe it might work if you used it all winter?