Summer Supplements and Scientific Studies

I consider myself the luckiest woman in the world. Pedro is a very considerate and refined partner. He knows when I need companionship, but he also senses when I need to be alone.

That, however, is not why I call myself lucky. I can go into any one of our three glasshouses and marvel at the sea of fragrant blooms, each even more delicately beautiful then the next. I love Roses with a newfound passion, which far surpasses the emotional bond that I used to have with my carnations.

Now that the Rust episode is behind us and I have learned to live with the elongated stems of our Granada and Ambience Roses, things seem to have quieted down for summer. Pedro is experimenting with various products to see how we can grow even better Roses for the marketplace.

For instance, the Eric’s Red and Kardinal Roses growing in our Red Rose Greenhouse are issuing forth bloom after bloom, thanks to the feeding regimen that Pedro has designed.

Based on our 100% fish-based organic fertilizers, Iguana Juice Grow and Bloom, the weekly nutrient mix in the reservoirs of our multi-bucket hydroponic systems also contains other products of Pedro’s choosing.

Starting with the basic mix suggested by the Advanced Nutrients Nutrient Calculator, Pedro has added Grandma Enggy’s Seaweed Extract, in order to provide our Roses with the natural hormones contained therein.

Auxins, Gibberlins, and Cytokinins are natural hormones that are found in sea kelp. They aid in cell division, nutrient transport, root formation, flower production, and general growth. They are being discussed all over the Internet as a very useful tool for budding horticulturalists.

Another product that Pedro is experimenting with is Very High Output (VHO) which seems to help in elongating the stems of our Roses, making them that much more attractive as cut-flowers.

Originally marketed by Advanced Nutrients as a product to feed mother plants in the cloning process, it was tried on Roses with quite of bit of success. It does make the stems longer, so Pedro is excited about using it. We were told this by an Advanced Nutrients technical person. They’re always ready to provide good advice, no matter what your problem is as a grower.

Potassium silicate is another thing that excites Pedro. He researched Roses on the web and found out about this study that proved that feeding your Kardinal Roses 100 ppm of potassium silicate helped to immunize them against certain pathogens and pests.

This study was conducted by the Horticulture and Crop Science Department of the California Polytechnic State University. “Based on statistical analysis, silicon had a positive effect on the length of stems of Kardinal Roses.” Silicon also imparts more resistance to pests and diseases.

Barricade is potassium silicate and Pedro was reinforced in his belief that by making the cell walls of our Roses thicker, this AN product helps us tremendously in producing flawless buds and blooms, unblemished by parasitical attacks of any kind. Now he found out that it also helps in elongating the stems of our Roses.

Emerald Shaman does not appear on the recommended products list on the Nutrient Calculator, but it got Pedro’s attention when he was perusing the Advancedpedia. “In ancient China they knew about using fermented vegetable matter to make plants grow,” he commented.

Emerald Shaman contains 88 thoroughly fermented certified-organic herbs, vegetables, and fruits. By feeding these to our Roses, Pedro is promoting their growth through the use of bioactive components that energize them.

The nutrients and enzymes in Emerald Shaman work on the cellular level to accelerate cellular activity, boost root functions, strengthen immune systems, and act as a general tonic for our Roses.

I think Pedro is right. Our wonderful Hybrid Tea Roses all look more perky and abundant since he started using Emerald Shaman. He feeds them through the leaves with this product, but it can also be applied through the roots.

Now that all our Roses are in flower, Pedro is regularly including Sensi Cal Bloom in the nutrient mix. The chelated micronutrients in this product include five different forms of Calcium, an essential ingredient since we grow in coco coir.

For some reason this grow medium requires an extra boost of Calcium—I guess it leaches this element out and it needs to be replaced. At least that’s what I heard Pedro say.

For standalone application of Sensi Cal Bloom 1.25 mL per Liter is suggested. However, Pedro has devised a complicated mathematical formula by which he can add certain quantities of extra ingredients into the nutrient mix suggested by the Nutrient Calculator and still end up with the optimum parts per million for each week’s worth of nutrient solution.

I suggested using Bud Blood, Big Bud, and Overdrive to maximize the size of our Roses, but Pedro insisted on keeping things organic, so we’re using Colossal Bud Blast instead.

Usually administered as a foliar spray, Colossal Bud Blast can also be added to the roots of our Roses. It aids in the absorption of organic nutrients and hormones, which in turn stimulate floral growth.

Colossal Bud Blast contains biostimulants from natural sources, in a synergistic blend with surfactants and natural chelators. I used to use it for my carnations and won many a prize with my blooms because of it.

Another study that Pedro came across recently has to do with our choice of grow medium. Conducted by the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture, it pitted two grow media against each other. Half the young Kardinal Rose plants were grown in a bark-peat-sand mix, the other half in coconut coir.

The study concentrated on water availability to the roots, as reflected in specific transpiration rates, stomatal conductance, and the specific growth rate of each plant.

Load cells were used to gravimetrically measure the transpiration rate of the plants. The specific transpiration rate (STR) was calculated using this data and taking total leaf area into account.

“The STR and stomatal conductance were also determined using a steady-state porometer,” explained Pedro, but he lost me at that point. Luckily, I had my laptop handy, so I punched up “porometer” and discovered that you can’t find every single technical term easily in online dictionaries.

I presume a porometer has something to do with the porousness of a leaf’s surface so I left it at that. I was only interested in hearing what the result of the test was, not every minute detail.

The yield (the number of flowers produced) by the coir grown plants was 19% higher than in those grown in the bark-peat-sand mixture, and that was good enough for me. There’s nothing like a thorough study to confirm that you were right in the first place.