With the change of season and some early heat waves, I began to notice the leaves of the Mandevilleas that curtain my front gate beginning to turn yellow. Now, since I had been making sure to monitor the moisture level of the surrounding soil between watering’s. And having already applied a slow release fertilizer a couple of months earlier when the leaves began to appear, I didn’t know what else to do. However, I did remember a friend telling me once that like us plants also benefit from the occasional boost of vitamin B. And with this brilliant yet simple reminder I kept in mind that though plants do produce vitamin B1 Thiamine, (which we humans of course do not) like us they too can experience deficiencies due to varying stresses; be it for them due to heat or say too much salinity. These affects in plants of course will lead to a stunting of new root growth thereby limiting nutrient uptake and the porosity of the soil surrounding the root ball.
With a new found motivation I ransacked the shed in search of a bottle of B1, yet to no avail while at the same time wondering if I had even purchased a bottle of vitamin B1 for plants in the last year. So leaving the cleanup to the spiders I decided to instead use some liquid Hormex. The benefit of utilizing a product which though having only a small amount of B1 as opposed to just a straight B1 supplement, is that you have the combined mutual benefit of the added synthetic hormones IBA (Indole-3-butiric acid) and NAA (1-Naphthaleneacetic acid) which aide in quickly promoting new growth.
So, promptly on the next watering I added 1 tbsp per gallon of water. And after repeating this same feeding two weeks later, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Not only were the leaves a brilliant green hue but there were also numerous new shoots sprouting everywhere! I will definitely be adding this new input to my seasonal feedings from now on. Give it a ‘shot’ for your plants too.
The post Get a Vitamin B1 shot — for Your Plant! appeared first on Hormex for Plants.