Eleanor’s VF-11 is back!

last month

Just letting all my plant peeps know that Eleanor’s VF-11 is back! This is great news Ordered mine today online from the manufacturer! :))))

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Comments (5)

tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
last month
last modified: last month
It's snake oil. Something I wrote about it at least a decade ago:

Eleanor's VF-11

Hmmmm. The guaranteed analysis of the primary/macro-nutrients (NPK) in Eleanor's is Analysis: 0.15 - 0.85 - 0.55 This is less than 1% of ANY of the majors. 1/8 of 1% N, 7/8 of 1% P, 1/2 of 1% K. This is EXTREMELY low in fertility. Since I cannot find the rest of the analysis, I'm going to guess the rest of the nutrients are probably nonexistent or nearly so.

I haven't used this potion (VF-11), but then, you don't need to ride the bus to know what makes the wheels go round & round. Forgive me for being somewhat skeptical or even cynical, but when vague claims are made like: ... and mildew is eliminated because VF-11 changes the pH and creates a condition where mildew can not grow, I tend to balk. Once again, isn't it amazing? I wonder why there isn't something specific in the claim. Changes the pH of what? Soil? Cellular pH? Leaf surface pH - for how long? Hmmm
I also wonder at: VF-11 builds so much strength and health that plant cells 'harden' and 'seal in' the amino acids which aphids feed on. Baloney. The primary drivers of hardened cell walls are Ca(lcium) and silicon, neither of which are listed as a part of the product. You have merely eliminated their food supply. And you have done it without the use of poisonous systemic or pesticides. Pretty nice...huh? Don't aphids feed on sap. How does this product make the sap unavailable to aphids or other insects with sucking/rasping mouth parts? Does it somehow make cells so hard that they cannot be penetrated? and dry up all the intra-cellular plant water/sap? Should I/we be saying GMAB here? There's more, but you get the drift.

I wouldn't say that this product has absolutely no benefit, as it may very well have a minuscule effect on the plant, but I am of the general feeling there is almost surely no panacean value to products like Superthrive or this VF-11 magic elixir, and it's a good bet it's not the magic potion some may think it to be. I don't trust intentionally misleading advertising that is known to be false, and this alone is enough to fuel the skepticism in me.

One thing additional: The claim that "you cannot overdo", means there could only be extremely minute (almost immeasurable or nonexistent) amounts of any micro-nutrients in it because excessive levels of micro-nutrients produce toxicities at even low levels and over-doing would reveal readily visible symptoms quickly.

Like I said, I wouldn't argue that it has no value, but I do know that I would invest in a good fertilizer that contains all nutrients essential to normal growth in a single package source of micro-nutrients and an appropriate fertilizer before I'd trust plant vitality to a product labeled with insubstantial claims.

VF-11 is 1.55% nutrients, the remainder is water. It does not contain micronutrients other than some minute/incidental quantities of zinc and molybdenum. OTOH, Foliage-Pro 9-3-6 (a great 'go to' fertilizer for containerized plants), is 18% nutrients. VF-11 costs about $22/qt and supplies less than .5 oz of fertilizer. A qt of Foliage-Pro 9-3-6 costs about $26 (delivered price), but supplies 11.52X as much fertilizer. Add that to the fact Foliage -Pro 9-3-6 is not a 'pig-in-a-poke' and it's hard to see why anyone would even consider Eleanor's concoction.

Al
popmama (Colorado, USDA z5)
last month
Al is like the "MythBusters" of the plant world. Love your take on the snake oil, Al.
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Whoa, nellie!! I didn't see any kind of "attack" in what PG said. She's just saying give Eleanor a chance to get back to you. But, in my experience, I couldn't get her to respond to e-mail, so I called her. She seems to always answer the phone or return a call if you leave a message. She's a nice lady to talk to and very helpful. However, on the down side, my sister finds her a bit difficult to "nail down" on shipping costs. It seems it changes every time she talks to her. For example, today, she might tell you shiping is $25, and tommorrow, she might say it's $40. It drives my sis batty! But the product is so good, she deals with it... If it seems too high today, she'll call her back another day to order... I'll see what else I can find out about shipping to Australia... Denise in Omaha
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Wow, that's a deal, Carolyn! From Eleanor direct, it's $16/gallon if you buy four, then with shipping to me it makes it about $22/gallon. My sis buys it for her nursery and she has to sell it for $25/gallon to make a tiny profit. If she didn't believe in it so much, she wouldn't waste her shelf space for so little profit. Denise in Omaha
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Nae, Not Denise,...but if you scroll all the way to the bottom of the website I posted below...You can get a free 8 oz. bottle from Eleanor's all you have to do is send $3.00 for shipping. There is an #800 you can call. Its suppose to make appx. eight gallons of solution. It also lists on her website some of the places you can order from. Here is a link that might be useful: VF-11 Website
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
last month
im most suspicious of someone who basically signs up to make a post like this.. if they had like 10,000 posts and found the product useful well then i might be interested ...

but not this one
Beleszóve Foldlanya
last month
thank you! I've been looking everywhere for it for months! I only found this thread by my last ditch google search to see if they went out of biz! I'm down to my last tsp and have been rationing it for my plants for months!
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
last month
last modified: last month
...... and I'm a Nigerian Prince who wants to get to America and all I need is to deposit my millions into your bank account until I can get settled there, for which I'll give you a million dollars, if ......

Linda Chalker-Scott PhD is a professor of horticulture at Washington State University. Her main claim to fame is her history of dispelling of Horticultural Myths. You can read what she has to say about VF-ll HERE. I would also call to your attention that her conclusions/ observations re the product almost exactly parallel the points I made about key points. She wrote her piece in 2010, and I wrote/posted mine no later than 2007 as that is the oldest of my posts I could find on the net. Even the post I provided upthread was posted 13 years ago.

Everything I read at the VF-11 website, no matter how credible it sounds, says very little about the product and is full of loopholes. If anyone has interest, pick a paragraph or 2 from their website (whatever you think is a good 'selling point'), post it here, and I'll point to the misleading phraseology and obfuscation.

Al