Hydrogen Peroxide

What solution am I supossed to use to give my plants a boost?

10%... 1 oz. to 10 oz. water. Basically it increases the oxygen to plants.

darius, Is that starting with 3% "food grade" or 35% commercial that comes in gallons?

3%, available under $1 at most drug stores.

Do you mix it with water and use it as a foliar spray or mix it and pour on the soil?

Pour it on the soil. Works great for plants that are waterlogged!

I had been given this tip when I was losing so many of my coleus cuttings over the winter, and it made such a difference. I use it now on all my indoor plants each time I water and on all my baby and adult AVs in my indoor greenhouses. What an amazing difference it has made. Something so simple and cheap--and you don't have to deal with bad smell, stirring stuff in a bucket (although those things have their place in some situations). I measured it the first few times, but now I only put a couple of capfuls into my big watering can, which comes out about the same.

Oh yeah, that reminds me. How often are you supossed to use the solution?

I use very diluted plant food and the hydrogen peroxide now each time I water indoor plants and all my baby and adult African violets. This is the first time I have ever kept an AV alive, let alone start my own baby plants and I think the HP has a big role in that. It's easier for my old brain to do the same thing every time than to try and remember what I did when.

I haven't used it on anything outside yet, but might start, as one or two of my big containers look like they need a boost. We have had tremendous thunderstorms and some things are looking very waterlogged. The seedlings that I started using it on are in the gardens now and doing really well.

That's just what I do. I have a big watering can, so a capful or two is very diluted. Everybody has their own system, so you just have to start out and see what works for you. Keep things diluted and you won't have to worry about the timing as much. Darius is a good one to ask, as she is very experienced. So is Sugarweed, the one who started me on HP, as all my coleus cuttings were damping off and dying.

Good luck with your plants. What all are you growing?

Diane

Everything and anything, of course. Lol.

I'm growing a lot of species of milkweed from seed. Some tropicals, orchids. I'm trying to get more into native plants but most take so long from seed to flower that I find it kind of daunting.

I'm not so big on houseplants, I have to take most of my plants inside for winter and then I put everything, including any houseplants outside when it warms. I'd prefer mother nature doing most of my work for me.

I say houseplants as though I have a bunch. I have a peace lily, a ficus, a couple of pots of philodendron. My ficus is outside for this summer as it was needing some fresh air. I also have two small greenhouses that I am using for African violets, all the way from learning to start my own leaves to learning how to keep them happy enough to bloom. I have three orchid plants that are living in there now that were just recently given to me, as the person who had them did not know what to do with them.

I have about a million things outside, but that's another whole topic.

*Sigh* Two greenhouses... I don't even have one. Wanna share?

I'm glad I found all this out, it kind of ruins the atheistic value of a nice decorative pot sitting in a plastic water tray.

Oh, I don't know. There's a certain ambience about a pretty pot sitting in anything. It's hard to detract from a pretty pot holding a pretty plant.

I'll be glad to share. Just ship everything on down and I'll send you pictures now and then!! How would that be? Awwww, come on! You can trust me.

You know, I got the second greenhouse to give to my daughter and then got selfish because she didn't have room for it anyway. I really wanted to try my hand one more time with seed trays. Even bought heat mats and got all excited. It was a bust -- again!! So no more seeds for me. I've already given away my seed trays and switched everything over to African violets except my one shelf of odd ball stuff. I think I was just waiting for an excuse to do that. A couple of very generous AV growers sent me baby plants and leaves -- so what's a girl to do? And of course, those heat mats have been wonderful, too.

I have a really big bedroom in my in-law apt. and there are six big windows in one corner that are where the greenhouses live (three of those windows look out into the carport, so only the end one on that side is of any assistance), but the other three get wonderful sunlight and bright light. I couldn't put up the light shelves and all that so many others have, so I got two really cheap end tables at the thrift shops and set my greenhouses up on those. That way all the shelves get the best light I can give them. I did a lot of juggling around to try and get things into the right amount of light.

Then my granddaughter gave me a little three-shelf unit that I use for spare pots and bottles of stuff and have some misc. plant cuttings on the top shelf that don't need to be in the greenhouses.

THEN, since all of that wasn't enough, I got one of those inexpensive three-drawer plastic storage units at Target and have my soil mixes in the drawers. One is for AVs, one for regular plants, one just for peat. Don't I sound all organized? Of course, by the time I finished all that organization, I didn't have anything left to plant. Wouldn't you know?

So, I have a small unused chair over there so that I can sit to do all this work. It's my little indoor garden.

I had several back surgeries and could not do anything at all outside, so this has given me a way to get dirt under my fingernails!! I am now still only able to do little bits of things outside, but at least it's something to be thankful for.

TTYL