[milkyjoe]

OO...you ever hear of japanese knotweed being used for isr or to increase essential oil production?

[xxxstr8edgexxx]

please never ever plant japanese knot weed. it is a highly destructiveinvasive species that devastates native habitat in riparian areas. it unfortunately can easily be gathered in disturbance sites along rivers.

[Only Ornamental]

Originally Posted by milkyjoe

OO...you ever hear of japanese knotweed being used for isr or to increase essential oil production?

Hi Milky,
Long time no see .
Had to look it up and have to say: THANK YOU, after over 25 years I finally know what that is! That plant was growing (rather overgrowing) a few patches when I was a kid and nobody could tell me what it was. Where I'm now, that stuff grows down the river, every year a little more... I only knew it wasn't indigenous but FINALLY I know the bastards name .
I heard of knotweed as a pest but didn't pay it much head (till now) and also as an alternative source for resveratrol (by chance, my ex-boss used to work a lot with this compound). Increased resveratrol synthesis is part of the plants immune response (given that said plant has the ability to produce it). Amongst many others, resveratrol and its derivatives show anti-fungal activities but that knotwee could be used to increase essential oil, I did not know and right now can not see how (lack of knowledge).
Sorry, but I not much of a help here...

[glow]

Originally Posted by habeeb

I can dig out some emails from canna, but I believe it's long step fermented product? All I know is it takes a long time for them to make the product, hence I think some of the price tag

didn't they claim it was also some tropical rainforest plant in there???

what I did find in my email..

"Boost, and its mineral counterpart, is based on the same thing. A little mineral charge is given to increase performance in the Canna Boost. Both start out and are composed of a fermentation product that really provides no additional nutrients. It is an engineered product that stimulates or, rather, acts as a stress indicator for the plant. No actual stress occurs but the plant thinks it is, much like a vaccine will do for animals, and is a positive stress. The plant them responds to the stress by increasing its immune response. This immune response bolsters the natural products produced by plants that help it ward off the effects of a pathogen or physical damage. Things such as alkaloids are defense mechanisms for plants and are enhanced. So, basically 2 things happen: the plant will express better resistance to disease and will show heightened production of natural protectants made by the plant, hence the smell. Additionally the plant will tend to increased branching on sl!
ightly shorter plants and exhibit more even and earlier harvest; earlier is measured in a few days in reality as this is the measure used in the horticultural world."

Someone should perhaps test Boost for ethylene, ABA and methyl jasmonate. Hmmm now there's an idea:-)

[Bill Bellamy]

so using agricultural grade Chitosan in a foilar, do we need to add anything else as mentioned earlier or just the chitosan and water? thanks - bill

[Only Ornamental]

Originally Posted by Bill Bellamy

so using agricultural grade Chitosan in a foilar, do we need to add anything else as mentioned earlier or just the chitosan and water? thanks - bill

Depends, if it's the free base, then you have to add also an acid as I mentioned before. If you have the salt form, like chitosan lactate or hydrochloride, then adding plain water is enough.
If you don't know what you have, put it in water. If it dissolves readily, then you have a salt form and the pH should be neutral to slightly acid. If it doesn't dissolve, then you have the free base and need to add an acid.

[Bill Bellamy]

Thanks for the prompt response only ornamental! I have water soluble Chitosan Oligosaccharide from bestchitosan.com agricultural grade mw2000-3000

https://www.bestchitosan.com/e_produc...Powder-22.html


and if an acid is needed which is the easiest to come by or suggested for veg and flowering sprays.. thanks in advance!

[Only Ornamental]

If you'd need an acid (with your product, you don't ), go with acetic (cheap and carbon source), lactic (no smell and carbon source), or hydrochloric acid (strong and dangerous). Citric acid in veg and phosphoric acid in flo might sound like a good idea but you'd have to test them because they might 'cross-link' the chitosan molecules resulting in a gel or even a precipitate.

[Bill Bellamy]

You're the man, thanks a ton.. Do you see any need to put it in the feed? or do you think foilar is the best route?

[Only Ornamental]

You can use it for both .
Root uptake is usually better but you need less substance when applying as foliar; as it's an inducer of systemic resistance, the signal travels throughout the plant and the rout of application should theoretically play a secondary role (maybe someone here on board has experience with that?). Me personally, I'd use a soil drench only when fighting with root diseases.