heres some good info on the B1, i think the thing is that the micros sometimes help out with some nutes, google just thought me some good stuff.
Breaking the Vitamin B-1 Myth
Does Vitamin B-1, used and touted by customers and retailers for over 50 years as an aid to help plants overcome transplant shock, really work? Or are its "results" a myth? Research performed in recent years by U.C. Davis, Sunset Magazine and others, reveals that Vitamin B-1's restorative powers have indeed been exaggerated.
Sunset's study, published in their magazine, tested the truth of B-1's claim to aid root regeneration and to bring better top growth. Using fast-growing annual marigolds, the magazine tried six different treatments. Four had vitamin B-1 in them. One had Vitamin B-1 alone, one had B-1 with phosphorous, and the other two had B-1 with 3-10-3 and 10-10-15 fertilizer respectively. The fifth treatment was simply a 10-10-15 fertilizer and the sixth was plain water.
After two weeks, new leaves and growth had occurred in all marigolds except for those given Vitamin B-1 alone; they had no growth. The marigolds that were given fertilizer alone were flowering after four weeks. The others took two more weeks to bloom. After six weeks, those same fertilized plants were bushier, greener and had more flowers. The real clincher was that the plants that were given pure water did better than those given B-1treatments! Sunset's obvious conclusion was that Vitamin B-1 appears less effective than plain water in regenerating a plant's root system after transplanting.
Almaden Valley Nursery takes pride in the fact that our own in-house tests revealed the same results two years prior to Sunset's tests, and we discontinued selling Vitamin B-1 more than eight years ago. What the study means for you is that fertilizers alone can make a big difference in getting a plant established. And we all want to do our best to start our "babies" off right!
Recognizing this, we recommend two outstanding fertilizers; Green Light Liquid Root Stimulator with a genuine IBA (Indole-3 butyric acid) rooting hormone with a starter fertilizer solution, and Dr. Earth Organic #2 Starter Fertilizer with beneficial microbes. Each of these products is formulated exclusively for transplants. Both are effective used at the time of planting, and both will produce stronger, more profusely flowering plants.
Now that the Vitamin B-1 myth has been exposed, you can confidently start your plants off right, with the help of Root Stimulator, Dr. Earth and the garden experts at Almaden Valley Nursery.
Written by:
Matt Lepow, Owner, CCNPro, B.S. Ornamental Horticulture
