Tomatoville® Gardening Forums - View Single Post - Do any of the "root growth" products work well?

RayR · May 10, 2017

Magic bullets? It's more of a combination of things.
Carolyn is right that the medium you sow the seeds in is an important factor to root growth. A medium that allows oxygen to penetrate easily is important to root growth. There's nothing worse than a medium that just drowns roots in water.
I think that is one factor why DE in granular form works well for seedling root growth.
I agree with Father'sDaughter that top growth is a different story. I've worked with straight DE and DE mixes compared to peat based and coco mixes and the top growth is variable. Sometimes top growth is bigger in DE, sometimes not. All seeds of the same variety are not the same, some have more vitality and are more aggressive in producing top growth.

A product like Schultz Starter Plus from what I read on the label contains is just Urea, Ammonium Phosphate, Potassium Nitrate and Iron EDTA at a NPK of 5-10-5 with the addition of 0.02% Vitamin B1 (Thiamine Hydrochloride). OK, it's a bit higher in P which may be important for root growth. The addition of Vitamin B1 which some root enhancers may have as a magic bullet is based more on myth than scientific proof. Plants synthesize Vitamin B1 and it is found in greater concentration in the roots.There's no solid proof that the addition of additional B1 to the medium has any benefit.

DIEHARDTM BioRush also contains "Root Promoting Vitamins" as magic ingredient but I think it's other ingredients may be more valuable. Trichoderma Fungi are known to stimulate root growth as are many other beneficial microbial inhabitants of the rhizosphere.
Mycorrhizal fungi, Trichoderma fungi and PGPR's (Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria) can be had alone or in combination in many commercial inoculants.
They all have functions in overall plant health including root growth that science backs up. The vast number of important root growth promoting chemicals they make are better than any kind of single questionable magic bullet like Vitamin B1.

May 10, 2017	#11
RayR Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Cheektowaga, NY Posts: 2,466	Magic bullets? It's more of a combination of things. Carolyn is right that the medium you sow the seeds in is an important factor to root growth. A medium that allows oxygen to penetrate easily is important to root growth. There's nothing worse than a medium that just drowns roots in water. I think that is one factor why DE in granular form works well for seedling root growth. I agree with Father'sDaughter that top growth is a different story. I've worked with straight DE and DE mixes compared to peat based and coco mixes and the top growth is variable. Sometimes top growth is bigger in DE, sometimes not. All seeds of the same variety are not the same, some have more vitality and are more aggressive in producing top growth. A product like Schultz Starter Plus from what I read on the label contains is just Urea, Ammonium Phosphate, Potassium Nitrate and Iron EDTA at a NPK of 5-10-5 with the addition of 0.02% Vitamin B1 (Thiamine Hydrochloride). OK, it's a bit higher in P which may be important for root growth. The addition of Vitamin B1 which some root enhancers may have as a magic bullet is based more on myth than scientific proof. Plants synthesize Vitamin B1 and it is found in greater concentration in the roots.There's no solid proof that the addition of additional B1 to the medium has any benefit. DIEHARDTM BioRush also contains "Root Promoting Vitamins" as magic ingredient but I think it's other ingredients may be more valuable. Trichoderma Fungi are known to stimulate root growth as are many other beneficial microbial inhabitants of the rhizosphere. Mycorrhizal fungi, Trichoderma fungi and PGPR's (Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria) can be had alone or in combination in many commercial inoculants. They all have functions in overall plant health including root growth that science backs up. The vast number of important root growth promoting chemicals they make are better than any kind of single questionable magic bullet like Vitamin B1.