I'm very leery of products that contain anything which have had hormones used in their growth process. Case in point: Larry and I are veteran dog breeders, and we're very careful of the nutrition our dogs receive. We make our own feed, actually. My Olde Bulldogge, Maia, has been fed our natural feed since she was conceived; her mother was fed our feed exclusively before and during her pregnancy and subsequent lactation. Maia's body is toxin-free, and free of any preservatives or growth hormones or any other chemical used in the manufacture of commercial pet feeds. Several months ago, we ran out of a couple of ingredients needed to mix our home made feed, so I was forced to feed Maia commercial kibble for about 3 or 4 days... I noticed that her mammary glands swelled up, and most unevenly... a few on her left side, one or two on her right... and her energy level and attitude underwent small changes, as did her digestion, which I expected. She acted nervous, and just wasn't her usual self. I immediately stopped feeding her the kibble, and we got in the necessary ingredients to mix our own feed, which she was put back on. Within a few days, her mammary glands were back to normal, which is flat and tight against her body, since she has never given birth or had reason to use them. The mammary gland swelling freaked me out! She's a very young dog, and has only gone through one heat cycle! There's no other explanation that we can find, other than the meat products in the kibble, which I would bet contain growth hormones, and since she was not used to ingesting the chemicals contained in the kibble, her body reacted. When commercial pet feeds are made, the ingredients can be anything. There's no real government regulation on pet feeds, so everything gets ground up together, and it's termed "meat by-product". This can mean animals that died with any type of drug or medication in their systems, including (but not limited to) antibiotics, growth hormones, drugs used to euthanize, etc... and then there are the fillers and preservatives... BHT, ethoxyquin, beet pulp, and in some rare cases, sawdust. I won't even go further! The crude protein mentioned on the label does not specify the actual source, so there's no way to tell what what used. Getting back to plants... I definitely think growth hormones can help boost plant growth. While I prefer to garden naturally, using composted manures and manure teas, I think adding vitamins and hormones in small amounts to potted plants can be beneficial. I haven't thoroughly read the label on the Superthrive bottle, but I do know it contains vitamins and hormones. I'd like to do an experiment with a control plant and a Superthrive fed plant, but I don't have any seedlings I could use at the moment. I can, however, plant a few wayward hipeastrum seeds that I have leftover from this past season... it might be fun and interesting to see if this stuff really works! What I can say for certain is that feeding my dogs a natural diet, free from any chemicals or fillers, makes a marked difference in growth, health, and even in personality/attitude/behavior... I'm willing to bet that it plays a role in longevity, as well.

Oh my gosh! Did they get that idea from my post, where my point was that anyone who confused Superthrive with superphosphate was someone I would not trust with a hoya i.d.??! Ack!! No, superphosphate and Superthrive are *not* the same thing!!! I think superphosphate is just what it sounds like--a concentrated form of phosphorous (mine is granular), and Superthrive is the brand name of a vitamin/growth stimulating supplement that comes in a little brown bottle. Not to be confused with Superman or Superglue either! Please donÂt misunderstand and put superglue on your plants, either!! Not the same! *Not*!!!

I don't know if Super Thrive actually works or not, but I figure it can't hurt so I go ahead and and some in (1/4 tsp per gal) every time I fertilize, and I also use it by itself whenever I transplant something. Personally I feel like it does make a noticeable difference. Something to keep in mind is that a bottle does have a limited shelf life, I think it's about a year. Also, heat will break down the active ingredients. For this reason I keep my bottle of Super Thrive under the sink in my laundry room, rather than out in the garage or whatever. I also buy it from Lowes, where it's kept indoors in the air conditioning, unlike Home Depot where they keep it outside exposed to the Texas summer heat. I have a theory (totally without any science/facts to back it up), that the reason it seems to work for some people but not for others is that some of the bottles are either expired or have been exposed to a lot of heat in shipping, storage, or whatever.

all that is important is the numbers ... you really dont need to pay a premium for marketing mumbo jumbo ... buy the cheapest general formula water soluble fert.. and use it half strength... and your plants will be fine .. something like this but even better if you can find it in a plastic container https://www.walmart.com/ip/Expert-Gardener-All-Purpose-Water-Soluble-Plant-Food-Fertilizer-5-lb-Box/138006473?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&adid=22222222222143867852&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&wl0=e&wl1=s&wl2=c&wl3=74698135810751&wl4=pla-4578297704832965&wl5=&wl6=&wl7=&wl10=Walmart&wl11=Online&wl12=138006473_0amp;wl14=wlamart%20water%20sol%20fert&veh=sem&msclkid=33f541b281a81999841a210e4bc262fe&gclid=33f541b281a81999841a210e4bc262fe&gclsrc=3p.ds the only reason to fert often.. is if you water by completely flushing the pot after every watering .. and most of us dont water that way ... and if you dont flush.. and you keep fert'g .. then eventually fertilizer salts will accumulate in your pots ... to the plants detriment ... they are plants.. not children.. they dont need constant feeding .. and they surely dont need gourmet foods .. dont make this harden than need be ... ken ps: i presume a purchased plant comes heavily juiced on fert ... so i figure it doesnt need much of anything more for at least a month .. and then.. if i think of it.. i fert once a month at half strength ,... with the last fertg around 9/1 ...