This was published in Stemma Magazine: 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

That is the beauty of our country's secondary education system, there's a fit for everyone and there's really no "right" or "wrong" school scenario for everyone. So, as parents and future college students, you just need to do the best you can to find a school that fits your child's interests and personality. As parents, I think we need to just resist the urge to intervene and make right every adversarial situation a young adult comes into contact with. They are adults at 18 and need to learn how to fend for themselves. That's what I actually like about college - it gives them 4 more years to grow up and mature before they're really on their own. As far as the FASFA, at the schools we applied to, it wasn't necessary for merit based awards - ie awards for grades/test scores. There was a long list of private grants/scholarships if you qualified for specific criteria - ie you had a family member that was a nurse, or an iron worker or a member of a specific union etc. We didn't qualify for any of those $$ although I did read each one carefully looking for a fit! I do believe that you need to complete the FASFA to apply for any of those, even if they stated it was a merit award and not soley need based. At a state public school here in Ohio, the awards are either financially driven (requiring a FASFA) or merit based. My son did get a merit scholarship, but taking into account the money he got from his athletic scholarship, I knew based on our income, he would not get any need based money. I'm sorry, but that form is a PIA and really didn't want to disclose all of our financial situation when I knew we wouldn't qualify. When I went to college a gazillion years ago, my parents filled out the FASFA because my brother and I were both in school and my mother was a school teacher and my dad a bricklayer. We thought while we were definitely not poor, with two kids in college, we were also not feeling flush with money. Of all the things I saved in the college scrapbook, I saved the response I got when I applied. Back then tuition/room& board was about $3300 a year for a state school. My FASFA came back and said my parent could afford $5800 a year for college expenses - and that was with my brother also in college. I truly do not know how they could come up with that number with two parents who had definitely middle class incomes, but again, they had no debt and no mortgage, so if you're financially responsible, you get no help. Granted if I had gone to a private school with a much higher tuition, we may have gotten something but, I was happy going to the state school, so while I did have alot of student loans, they weren't as much as if I had gone to a private school.

Thanks for posting the Holland story, Morz8. I first read it when DGS was diagnosed as a GERD baby. It was a help to me as I was figuring out how to help DS and DIL, who were overwhelmed by the situation at first. Especially as they live out-of-state. It is such a gentle lesson, but difficult - how to accept the unacceptable, and how to adjust gracefully to that which cannot be changed, and how to find the good in what appears so bleak. I haven't checked any boxes because I would have to check all of them. That's how touching these stories are! As Current Resident said, this is the internet at its best. Every person has a story. Even if you think you don't have a story, you do. I agree wholeheartedly that travel to a new place is a great way to challenge oneself, to find even a mild adventure, and to experience a change in perspective that can never be taken away. I remember what it was like returning to the States after my first year overseas in Israel and Jordan (some years before the 1967 war that changed my life), Israel then a second-world country, and Jordan almost third-world. I remember walking into my beloved Marshall Field's in the Chicago Loop and being bowled over, almost sick to my stomach at the vast amount of gorgeous stuff available there. I had totally adjusted to "poverty", small plain stores with not much in them, nothing remotely resembling a supermarket anywhere, few people owned their own cars, there was no tv, as neither country had television then, and on and on. But people lived with so much energy and happiness, with appreciation for the details of life and with plans for the future, just as we do. I did not understand how my values had changed until I got home. I was seeing the world with diffferent eyes now; this is what happens when you go to a different (and sometimes more difficult) place - your humanity expands.

I started working in professional services in the medical software field in the mid-80s BPC - before PCs. I worked for one company that went out of business shortly after I started and another owned/managed by a nut case. Then I went to work for a startup founded and led by a most amazing leader and business person. I didn't have much experience at that time and was given a fabulous opportunity to travel and work with hospitals throughout the US and one in Singapore. I developed great adaptability and confidence working with buggy software - never knew what I would encounter at the next customer site. I love software and medicine and was truly blessed to fall into something that was such a perfect fit for me. Being in a small, entrepreneurial company also offered me the chance to become a manager, and the leader of our company was a wonderful teacher and role model for me, being new to that role. I went on to advance to a senior executive level position in the same field before I retired and I think, and have been told by quite a few people who worked with me, that I was a great leader and the best manager they ever had. I know I changed some people's lives by seeing what they were capable of and believing they could do bigger and better things than they, themselves believed. Maybe I inherently had some of what it took to do that but I give great credit to the leadership and experience I had at that company starting back in 1989. In any case I feel so fortunate to have had such an enjoyable and fulfilling career that pretty much started with that company.