Re: [CH] ugly plant confession

ken (kljones@eagnet.com)
Mon, 07 Jun 1999 20:29:02 -0400 

Alex Silbajoris wrote:
> 
> Pods,
> 
> I'm about to trim back the 4-year-old Jamaican Hot plant that just got
> repotted, and I have to admit I'd be ashamed to show it to the membership
> of this list.  It's twisted, scrawny, grown out and died back - kind of a
> bonsai with no class.  Yet it continually produces peppers, with one
> ripening now and more blossoms open.  So I wonder if other people have
> their own dog-ugly plants that they just can't bear to destroy.
> 
> I like Bob's chicken and rice recipe; I do many different versions of it.
> It's very easy to make your own Rice-A-Roni type of mix - if you don't have
> the right pasta, you can snap spaghtti into half-inch lengths.  I love the
> moment when the hot liquid hits the browning rice - whoosh!  Often I like
> to color the rice yellow with saffron or maybe tumeric, but last time I
> tried some of that Hungarian paprika and it gave a great color plus a hint
> of rich red flavor.
> 
>      Alex Silbajoris  72163.1353@compuserve.com
>      snipping oregano in the sun
Hi Alex,

     I found just the thing for your stunted plants.  I pruned a couple
of my Hab plants and brought them indoors for the winter last year. 
When I set them back out in the garden this spring they sprouted new
leaves, but they looked terrible.  The leaves were all tiny, twisted,
and yellowed.  Fertilizer and minor adjustments to the soil PH produced
only minimal improvement.  The leaves were a little greener, but still
small, and there still wasn't any new stem growth.  
     I was in my favorite nursery 2 or 3 weeks ago and saw a product
that looked interesting and decided to give it a try.  I had never heard
of it, although the label says it has been around since 1940.  It is
called Horms #4 SUPERthrive.  It is a solution of vitamins and hormones
and you can use it by itself or use it with your fertilizer.
     I mixed some up(1/4 tsp per gallon of water) and added it to the 
regular feeding of Miracle-Gro.  Within a couple of days of feeding it
to my pathetic looking Hab plants I began to notice a dramatic
improvement.  Now, about 2 weeks later, they are beautiful.  They are
covered with new lush, green, normal sized leaves.  There is new stem
growth and they are flowering and setting new fruit.  I also had a New
Mex 6-4 plant that's been barely clinging to life since I transplanted
it 6 or 8 weeks ago, and I had nearly as dramatic results with it.  It
also gave a noticeable boost to my tomato plants.  I love this stuff! 
I'm using it on all my plants now.
     If you can't find any of this stuff see if your local nursery will
order it for you.  You'll really be surprised at the results.