"Jim Lewis" wrote in message

Sigh. We've been though this many, many times. If someone has
done a truly scientific test of s'thrive, I'd like to see both
the procedure and the results, as published in a reputable
journal. There aren't any.

Hi Jim
I had asked about superthrive here a while back.
Well I recently did another scientific test of my own. Scientific meaning in
normal use, not in a lab, not with scientific readouts generated by
expensive equipment, but a "visible to the naked eye" scientific test.
Done with petunias, all raised from seed, all ones picked were at same
height, rate of growth. All were potted up at same time, in same amount of
media, watered with same amounts, received same amount of sun, etc etc.

2 were control, only watered with water. 2 received seasol (a seaweed based
fert), 2 received superthrive only, 2 received superthrive and seasol, 2
received miracle grow, just for the hell of it
The seasol, miracle grow and superthrive were given fortnightly, then
watered with water at other times. You get the picture, I kept everything
equal as possible.

Results were, after 2 months:
Control, well they grew.
Seasol only, no bigger than control, but had a darker looking green in them.
Superthrive only, same as control, no bigger, greener.
Superthrive and seasol, again, darker looking green, much like the seasol
only.
Miracle grow. Large, lush green growth, roots just starting to come out of
drainage holes.
Upon checking roots after the experiment, they were all much the same size,
except for the Miracle grow ones.

As I said, this was not a lab type experiment, but IMO done where it should
have been. Outdoors where they will grow. Ok, so maybe some had a couple of
grams difference between soil amounts (I wasn't going to use scales when
filling pots, just by sight to a line in the pot). To the naked eye there
was no benefit from superthrive at all. Again, IMO if it's not noticeble
then this superthrive is certainly not worth the money. I did take utmost
care in amounts of water when they were watered, and soil amounts, and
handling when I potted them up.
Still what I'm getting at is this experiment was enough to prove that in
normal gardening practices, or I should say above normal care, superthrive
showed no benefits.
Even if you got the stuff for free it wouldn't be worth adding as the time
taken to mix it, and add it isn't worth what it does for the plant.
Anyway, I'll leave it at that. Just my little research into it, and my
findings.

Cheers
Andrew
--
Mid North Coast
New South Wales
Australia

The basic ingredient (by the smell; its ingredients are TOP
SECRET so the $#%# BIG CORPORATIONS don't steal the formula) is
vitamin B. Vitamin B does NOTHING for plants. Quite rigorous
scientific tests _have_ shown that experiments done in the 1920s
or 30s indicating otherwise could NOT be replicated. They were,
in fact, most likely fakes or corrupted.

The "virtues" of Superthrive are a matter of faith, not science.
If you BELIEVE in Superthrive, anything is possible. ;-)

For me, Superthrive is, and shall always be, 100% Snake Oil, and
the only benefit to be gained from it is to the wallet of the
guy that makes it and charges such exorbitant prices for a
horticultural hoax.

Jim Lewis - - Hit THINK before you hit SEND


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