The usage of hb101

[defra]

Hi,i recently ordered a bottle of hb101 and am curious if others have experience with it.
I have this taxus wich was going a bit pale green spider mites....
I treated it with a limesulfer dilution and it didnt get worse...
Ive waited a week then when the weather was nice and no cold for couple days i sprayed the foliage with hb101 and it looks like the foliage returned to a way better looking green the day after.

I cant proof that its the hb101 but to me it looks like it helped tough...
Does anyone have similar experience or negatieve experiences with hb101

 

[Gabler]

Hi,i recently ordered a bottle of hb101 and am curious if others have experience with it.
I have this taxus wich was going a bit pale green spider mites....
I treated it with a limesulfer dilution and it didnt get worse...
Ive waited a week then when the weather was nice and no cold for couple days i sprayed the foliage with hb101 and it looks like the foliage returned to a way better looking green the day after.

I cant proof that its the hb101 but to me it looks like it helped tough...
Does anyone have similar experience or negatieve experiences with hb101

Pics or it didn't happen.

 

[WIlliam_Butler_Yeets]

So I have not used it personally. but there's a few sentences about in Bonsai Heresy (actually just read that section last week which is why it sprung to mind) mentioning that it is popular with Japanese bonsai growers, but any actuals effects of hb101 are all anecdotal and haven't been studied. Personally, I think the dilution ratio of 1:1000 would make it fairly harmless, but also unlikely to do much of anything, especially in a short timeframe

 

[DaveNuts]

This should be a fun thread.
Even the marketing materials (in english anyway) for HB101 dont say anything about how it is supposed to aid plant growth or health.
Cant even really see any professionals recommending it so it's not been enough to convince me to try beyond a free sample.

 

[TomP]

I tried it with my foliar feeding routine two years ago. Trees did well. I omitted it last year. Trees did well. I am not buying it this year

 

[Paradox]

Its just potash and nitrogen in very small quantities so in essence, very very very dilute fertilizer
So Im skeptical this is some miracle cure

 

[defra]

Pics or it didn't happen.

haha ill have to take picture tomorrow and look if i have one before,

its just i never used it before and i have read allot times people say they swear by it so i wanted to try it out other hand i know also some are sceptical or say it dont work, for this tree i cant realy tell for sure if its not just the treatment against the pest thats working so i just wanted to ask what others here on the forum got for experience with this product.
i dont expect it to be some kind of miracle cure but i wonder if it will work to help trees recover after something like spidermites or other pests that weaken the tree, anyway i have a bottle now so i will just try it out as foliar fertelizer in the growing season and see if it works as some claim or not like others claim

 

[RoadManDenDron]

I love the smell, when you think how diluted it is its quite impressive it still smells so strong

I can't comment on how it works or not more than anecdotal and superstition

 

[Wulfskaar]

I have a small bottle I bought around my first year in this hobby because of a youtube video of a guy who collects amazing coast live oaks. He was giving a class on working with them. He mentioned using it and how great it was.

I might have to experiment with it a little, but I have my doubts, based on a lot of comments on B-nut.

 

[River's Edge]

Many feel it is a suitable rival for Superthrive.

I must admit I have no evidence anecdotal or otherwise that would suggest recommending either product.

 

[Gabler]

Superthrive is definitely snake oil. I'm merely suspicious of HB101.

 

[defra]

Superthrive is definitely snake oil. I'm merely suspicious of HB101.

So why suspicion?
What do you know that makes you say this?
I dont know much about it except some google research..

 

[TomP]

haha ill have to take picture tomorrow and look if i have one before,

its just i never used it before and i have read allot times people say they swear by it so i wanted to try it out other hand i know also some are sceptical or say it dont work, for this tree i cant realy tell for sure if its not just the treatment against the pest thats working so i just wanted to ask what others here on the forum got for experience with this product.
i dont expect it to be some kind of miracle cure but i wonder if it will work to help trees recover after something like spidermites or other pests that weaken the tree, anyway i have a bottle now so i will just try it out as foliar fertelizer in the growing season and see if it works as some claim or not like others claim

It won't hurt. I use Superthrive even though it is as controversial as HB101. I think it helps based on admittedly non-scientific comparison in my garden. It's only money ultimately

 

[Gabler]

So why suspicion?
What do you know that makes you say this?
I dont know much about it except some google research..

I don't know enough about it to say for certain it's snake oil, but I've never seen a clear explanation of what it is or how it works, and these things tend to be scams.

 

[WIlliam_Butler_Yeets]

So why suspicion?
What do you know that makes you say this?
I dont know much about it except some google research..

A lot of these products make intentionally vague yet impressive claims as to their effects. HB101 for example claims to be a "plant vitalizer", what does that even mean? Like a fertilizer is a substance with a known effect, providing nutrients that are required by a plant for healthy growth. How can I tell if my plant is more "vital" than it was before? It's the same kind of tactic that was used to sell patent medicine back in the day, which was mostly some herbs infused into alcohol, or bones, or a whole preserved scorpion or rattlesnake. Was that effective treatment? Sometimes, maybe it was, but definitely not all the time. They're also pretty vague about what exactly is in the bottle "Cedar Extract, Pine Extract, Cypress Extract, Plantain Grass Extract, Ionized Minerals (Sodium, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Silicon)", okay so what do I do with that information? "Cedar Extract" is not a standardized term so I can't look up that phrase and know what the actual chemical components are. Furthermore, they recommend diluting the substance 1 part HB101 to 1000 parts water, that's more diluted than the intentionally extremely weak fertilizer solution I use for orchids. It just seems like a lot of hokum to me. What am I supposed to believe is in this bottle that supposedly makes plants magically healthier that I couldn't just provide via regular fertilizer?

 

[Gabler]

It's only money ultimately

What does that even mean? Money is essential to human survival. It's the source of food, water, shelter, and clothing.

 

[TomP]

What does that even mean? Money is essential to human survival. It's the source of food, water, shelter, and clothing.

All I am saying is that there is no evidence it is harmful. You will not kill your trees, you will not get cancer, you will not cause a thermonuclear war, you will not lose any friends, you will not be arrested for possession of an illegal substance. The only thing you will lose is the $15 you spend to buy a bottle on Amazon. If it works, great, if it doesn't you wasted $15 that you could have used for something else. So try it if you want and see what you think. I think HB101 was not worth the $15 but I think Superthrive may have been. (Once again based on non-scientific experiments where I changed multiple variables and got good results)

 

[Paradox]

It's only money ultimately

There is no evidence it does any good either.
You understand what advertising and marketing is? Trying to get you to buy something (ie separate you from your money), sometimes by embellishing the product a bit
I prefer not to waste mine on unproven stuff that, according to the bottle, is just highly diluted fertilizer. I already have enough fertilizer for my trees, why buy something that is just the same thing with more water?

 

[TomP]

I am not disagreeing. Results vary, all I am saying is that the cost of experimenting is low (literally 15 dollars a year) If it works great, if it doesnt you are out two McDonalds Happy Meals. The stakes are low. Lets argue about something that matters

 

[Gabler]

I am not disagreeing. Results vary, all I am saying is that the cost of experimenting is low (literally 15 dollars a year) If it works great, if it doesnt you are out two McDonalds Happy Meals. The stakes are low. Lets argue about something that matters

I just hate to see scammers preying on people. It's worse than ordinary theft because it scales. A normal thief can only pick so many pockets in a day, but there's no limit to a scammer's profits.

It's worth mentioning that no one is too smart to be scammed. We all have cognitive biases, and it's just a matter of time until a scammer preys on the right one at the right time.