Has anybody used Spray & grow products

I'm considering purchasing the spray and grow and Bill's perfect fertilizer to use as a foliage feeding program for the veggie garden this year.

It's all natural.

I was wondering if anybody else has tried it and what did you think abou t it.

www.spray-n-grow.com is their web site

I have used it for over ten years. I have run into lots of people on daves who also have luck with it. I put my messenger right in with it. I probably mix up some two or three times a week. Just sprayed my daylily seedlings that took a hit in the freeze. Didnt use the fertilizer, just the spray and grow, will add bills towards the end of Feb. Sooner if it stays hot. The coco-wet to hold it on the plants, is just soap I think, If you have a thick leaved plant that you dont want the mixture to roll off of, just add some murphys oil soap, dish soap etc. to hold it on and dry.

Actually the coco wet is coconut oil, I thought i'd put in a teaspoon in with the other stuff and call it done LOL

I'm glad to hear it works good, it's so expensive though,

I have a huge area, should buy the gallon but firsttime i'm going to get the quart size.

thanks

kathy

It goes along way, I mix a gallon at a time, Just a mist over everything and move right on. Cant get wetter than wet. I mix up a quart almost every day in the summer, just spray different things. I usually only mix a gallon or more when im doing the harscape, like the azealas. I would start with the smaller bottle, it never goes bad while waiting to be mixed, but I think you will be surprised at how far that bottle will go. Veggies love this stuff, flowers too. Tomatoes take special interest in it.

Coconut oil. Makes sense with the name. I m a bad guesser.

I got a catalog from them today - first time.

Thank you Kathy Ann for asking this. I had gone on today just to ask the same question. I think I will try it as I need all the help I can get. I don't really have enough sun or good soil (Alabama
red brick). I am slowly getting the soil in shape but the first years the compost just disappeared down into the clay but now it is beginning to show some progress.

Annie

Gardenglory , do you buy a gallon of it at a time, or buy it by the quart?

I buy it by the quart, sometimes I buy two quarts at a time. I have only been doing that tho since I started growing daylilies. Even there, I can spray a bed with 400 seedlings and there is still half a gallon left.. EASY. Now that I have joined Daves, im growing so many new things, I might just make it thru two quarts a season. You use 2 tbls per gallon. Cant remember the Bills ratio right off.

If you go to the top of this page, and where it says search, type in spray and grow. There are all kinds of little post about it.

I totally messed up the amount. I mix about four things at once and my mind did not remeber right. The 2 tbls is correct, holding the bottle in my hand. This is a 20 oz bottle, it would be great if they had a quart. 32 oz. would be just perfect for the season. I am on my last go around of Bill's PF. Putting in my order today as well.


This message was edited Jan 15, 2008 8:50 AM

WOW! I had no idea it was that concentrated, it didn't tell in the book what the ratio was. I'm glad I decided not to get a gallon of it LOL

I'm definitely going to use this stuff this spring and summer. Looks like maybe I can afford to use it on all the plants, I'm looking forward to having some luscious plants this year LOL

I looked up the mixing directions to the sray and grow.



2 tsp of spray n grow to one quart water
2 tbsp spray n grow to a gallon of water

and the bills fertilizer is :

well, I couldn't find the directions on mixing the fertilizer, but it's probably the same as the spray n grow right gardenglory?

I haven't bought mine yet, but I still have time before growing season, I'm looking foward to using this stufft though

My spray and grow came in, I sprayed everything in the greenhouse LOL Stunk for 2 days , LOL

I've used it for the last 5 years--both personally and professionally. It's the best product on the market, in my opinion.

It also goes a long way and I find it cheaper (as well as better) than other foliar sprays. I, however, do not use messenger. I think its a lot of hype--but I have a long growing season and things grow rampantly if fertilized appropriately (and organically).

PHYSAN 20 is also the only fungicide I use.
Debbie
=)

This message was edited Jan 28, 2008 5:16 PM

Where do you get that at Debbie?

I've never used any fungicide. but have used pesticides

It's a spray-n-grow product, too:
http://www.spray-n-growgardening.com/prodinfo.asp?number=PHYSAN20PT&top=7

=)

Is Spray and Grow about the same as Super Thrive
Has anyone thied it.

No way--Spray-n-grow is organic, superthrive is definitely not.

I just received their catalog and was going to ask these very questions. The pictures of people using their product their vegetables were unreal. @3 inch tomatoes the green peppers were beautiful and huge. I am going to order it now. Thanks Deanna

Reading the company webpage I see many claims but no scientific studies. Are there any? Has anyone compared it with soil prepared with a regular 10-10-10 raised to the proper pH? With a high P bloom boost? Or with run of the mill fish emulsion?

Not saying anyone hasn't had good results. But I am skeptical of over-broad claims . I want to know what I am using is responsible for the results I get.

At the link below the company says the product "relieves the built-up stress condition caused by over fertilization, salt buildup and petrochemical use", "activates dormant microorganisms" and "increases solid content" among other things.

Hard to know what is meant by all that. What is a "built up stress condition"? What "dormant microorganisms"? Is the company claiming it can make saline soils productive? Reverse problems caused by petrochemicals in the soil? If just the last claim--about solid content-- is correct, I would think every commerical tomato grower in the country would use it and researchers would have published scores of papers on the subject.A tiny increase in solid content translates into millions a year in additional profit for the industry.

Here are some of the claims:

http://www.spray-n-growag.com/?html=full&key=sng&sub=sprayngrow

I seem to recall somewhere in the instructions to fertilize first? If I have to fertilize why do I need their product ? Confusing to say the least, however, I have their products and can't tell if their formulas have helped me or has it been my fertilizing ?

I'll stick to compost,manure,alfalfa,mulch and plenty of water.

TPlant...two of your earthboxes would be ideal for a comparision study. Although, come to think of it, Spray-n-grow says it's product activates dormant microorganisms. But what microorganisms are in potting mix for it to "activate"? My EB potting mix has mycorrhizal fungi but not much else I think. And the mycorrhizal is already active.

Federal law requires all products which have useful amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus and/or potassiurm in them and are sold as a fertilizers to have a guaranteed analysis of what the NPK ratio is on the label.

From vendors who sell the product I see the Spray-n-Grow ratio is 0-0-0. At the company website the label is shown but is unreadable. Perhaps I missed it but I do not see anywhere on its website that Spray-n-Grow lists the ratio. Guess the bottom line for me is I want full disclosure and studies which back up claims.




This message was edited Feb 4, 2008 11:21 AM

I'm skeptical too. It's like taking vitamin pills - do you really need them if you eat a nutritious diet? Do you really need micronutrients if you use good compost?

Here's the page to get their info - scroll down to "guaranteed analysis" to see what's in it.

http://www.spray-n-growwholesale.com/sngws.htm

Hey, some of us should do a garden test this summer. Say treat a row of lettuce all the same except spray a couple plants with the stuff and see if it makes a difference. It will cost some of us, but maybe save others $. What say? A posted photo should tell the tale.

Edited: the above link is dead. Use this instead:
http://www.spray-n-growgardening.com/35.asp

This message was edited Jun 1, 2008 6:02 PM

I'll do it, I got some of the bills fertilizer and some of the vitamins, But I wouldn't spray fish emulsion on lettuce I'll have to test it on something else LOL

I think you will be happy with it, especially noticable when the plants would normally start stressing over heat, etc. Any kind of blooming annual or perennial will love it. Veggies too...even the lettuce. Its like most things, cumulative. The more you use it, the better the plant gets and stays, especially when blooming..

CompostR...thanks for the directions to "guaranteed analysis" . I see why Spray-N-Grow is vague on what is in it and buries the analysis. It contains nothing but trace elements. And "trace elements" doesn't really describe the contents. These are homeopathic dilutions. What they are charging nearly $100 a gallon for is almost all water.

That said, I have done research for homeopaths--pulling stuff out of the Yale Medical library done in the 1930s-50s by Yale biologist Dr. Harold Saxton Burr. His work on corn, trees and human biology is fascinating. Changing electric potentials (which trace elements do) could make plants more vigorous and alter the activity of microorganisms.

At the levels of trace elements in the product it seems Spray-N-Grow is about this sort of thing. The head of the group I've done research for has come up to CT. He checked potentials in my yard. We put minute amounts of K-feldspar dust on cucubits. He is convinced that changes zeta-potential, among other things, increases the uptake of N-P-K. I'm obviously open to this but far from saying "Yes, this works". Once again, the only way to know is to do double-blind studies. Many of them.

Gardenglory, I'm thinking I should spray it on early in the morning or late in the evening, got any ideas? for the veggie garden, it does get extremely hot here in the middle of the day.

How am I going to know for sure if the vitamins work if I'm mixing them with the fertilizer. cause we know the fertilizer will work. Maybe I should seperate the two and use them on diff plants. That's alot of work and I'd have to buy another sprayer LOL

kathy-ann ---- That is exactly my point! If I have to put down fertilizer prior to spraying? How do I know the Spray-n-Grow works????

Tplant wrote:

LOL, I'm not arguing your point. I do have some quart sized spray bottles, I'll have to pick a couple tomato plants this year and do some experiementing. So the questionable product is the spray and grow not the fertilizer. I'll keep that in mind, and try to keep us up to date on if it works or not.

Just take two plants, fertilize them both and with one add spray and grow. Just adding spray and grow and no fertilizer is no test, as its not meant to substitute as fertilizer.

Spray it in the morning or when the sun isnt out, dont want evaporation to take it away before it dries on the plant.

As far as it being the be all and end all, there are many micro nutirent sprays at the garden center...certainly as many fertializers to try as we have years left to try them all. Im sure you can do the same thing as bills/spray and grow does, many different ways. I just havent found a better mix and its so easy. Each to their own, this happens to be the path for some, including myslef. Others have routines that also produce great results.

Thanks Gardenglory, I"ll do that, can't wait to see results.

David - that's very interesting. There's an article in this month's Discover about Raoul Koppelman's (Univ. of Michigan) research with nano voltmeters (he uses chemical dyes) which detect as high as 15 million volts/meter throughout rat brain cells. I wonder what plant cells produce?

Kind of off-point, but I also just read where the noxious weed, dodder, actually "sniffs" out vulnerable plants which they parasitize. They do not yet understand how it does this.

Anyway, it's amazing what goes on in these tiny worlds. Worlds that are right in our own backyards!

All - I'll try to do the Spray-n-Grow experiment too. Maybe bump this thread back up or start a new thread "Spray-n-Grow results" or something...

Good, I'm glad there will be others doin gthe experiment too. I'm going to do mine with tomatoes since I grow alot of diff ones, will be interesting to see what happens

Anyone have any results yet?

I just emailed the people at Spray-n-Grow to see what they recommend. If they reply, I'll post it for everyone.

I bought the "Spray n Grow" - we're just waiting for the weather!! Have long cold springs where we are. I only just started seeds indoors yesterday. It will be a while before I have anything to report. But, thanks for the reminder!

I've been using Spray-N-Grow for many years, since before they had such a big catalogue. They used to list the nutrients, about thirty. Why give their successful recipe away?

It doesn't replace NPK. It boosts what might be missing. Once they had a photo of a big bush that was in the neighbor's yard. The lady said, why not? while she was spraying her plants, and sprayed just the one limb that was hanging in her yard. That one limb was blooming beautifully, and the rest of the bush, over on the other side of the fence, wasn't blooming.

Most folks that give it a try, do a test, with and without, and they say, WOW! (like I did) and they don't deprive any plants. I give it my best endorsement.

Best to spray after sunset, or very soon after sunrise when the stomata (pores) on the undersides of the leaves are open.

As far as waiting for spray and grow, I start putting it something the second I see green. Seedlings,etc. I too spray in the morning or evening. I just try to make sure the plant is fully watered and happy in that reguard first.

The Tropical Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans are beautiful, clear blue. You have no idea of the color if you haven't seen it. These waters would be green/gray like up north, but for various reasons there is no iron in the water. Just one element, and the entire ecosystem is how it is, clear blue, empty water. Becaue of the absence of just one element.

My mother's sodium was completely drained from her body by her doctor's prescription of high blood pressure medications. She, poor dear, went completely insane. Us children had no idea, it was so gradual until all of a sudden, over a month or so, she got to some limit that her system could no longer tolerate, and she became totally wild. Finally one of my sisters got her into the hospital, and blood tests showed the extreme lack of salt.

What Spray-N-Grow does is to give a balanced group of micro nutrients, far beyond NPK. NPK is the easy part.

Iodine is another micro nutrient. Anyone know that story? Wow.

So, if all your soil amendments come from your area, something important might be missing.

OK, off soapbox! Have fun and success!

For me, its just so easy, I add the bills fertizlizer too. I have tried other things as they come along. I always go back to spray and grow as it works as well, or better, than anything else that is alot of trouble. My impatients are just blooming thier head off right now, and full. I have one pot that has bloomed straight for almost three years now. Basically, it has made gardening fun for me, and who can argue with that. Well....there is always somone ;-)