Has anyone tried this with KLN ?

[Wild Orchid]

Originally Posted by HighSeas

I recently bought a quart of KLN. The little voice in my head kept saying "get a smaller bottle" and while I usually listen, this time I said GO AWAY!

KLN has a very unstable shelf life and it's recommended that you keep it in the fridge. You can't keep the stuff in your garage...your greenhouse...or anywhere that doesn't offer stable cool temps.

So here I am with this quart of KLN, which isn't cheap. At a tsp. per gallon going into a pot every month of so, I would imagine that I'm not going to make it through that quart in a years time. I started giving it to a Bismarck Palm, a Camphor tree, a Bonsai and some Plumaria with great results but I'm never going to get through this quart....I'm the thrifty type who hates to waste anything. SO...I was thinking.... My husband cringes when I do that.

KLN contains NAA (Naphalene Acetic Acid), IBA (Indolebutyric Acid) and vitamin B1 (Thiamine). So no wonder it's so unstable. I'm not a chemist...I'm a nurse with a minor in Chemistry BUT no chemist! That said...

I can understand why you can't apply heat to these compounds....BUT....these compounds are frozen all the time! The question is....has anyone tried it with KLN?

I wonder what would happen if I put a tsp in each slot of an ice tray, fill the rest with pure water and freeze? I could then, pop the cubes out of the tray and suck pack batches in a food saver bag. When I need a tsp., I could just throw in a cube or two and be done with it. No measuring!

Does anyone have any input on why this wouldn't work while maintaining the integrity of the compounds of KLN?

I might be on the wrong track but I don't see a reason re why it's only being used once a month or so. If you have some rescue plants, that certainly would "help" with usage.
I heard that SuperThrive can cause some mutations but this is more talk than science.
I use seaweed solution with every watering and never had any mutations or strange things observed. Plants love it. (Of course, I realize, seaweed is organic and is much weaker.)
My

[CTB]

Maybe First Rays, could be of some help!

[HighSeas]

I've never used it with every watering of the healthy ones but I have used KLN for the sick ones....knock on wood; I don't have many of those. But since you only use about a tsp/gal even soaking one down in a bucket, isn't much. I also use it for soaking my LECA after I've completed the ionic exchange and rinsed really well. I also use it when I soak coconut chips. So it DOES get used. The issue is the short shelf life. Since I have a quart of it, I do keep it in the fridge.

Carol, I also use seaweed, especially after seeing YOUR beautiful Paphs! I have a Stag Horn fern that I've had hanging for close to 15 years now....it's HUGE. I gave it some Seaweed and couldn't believe how it was affected in only 2 weeks! But I switch around a bit...seaweed, KLN, Superthrive, Lime, MgSo4....plus the fertilizers. I'll probably drop the SuperThrive though...since the KLN is the same thing minus one ingredient.

I found my answer. Dyna-Grow says you can't freeze it as it turns dosing into guess work.

Does anyone use KLN on stuff you can actually ingest? Like herbs? I grow a lot of peppers and herbs so I could use it there. I see nothing on the label of the quart bottle that says you can't give it to edible plants but I could have sworn that the smaller bottle does say that.

Does anyone have the little bottle?

[desertanimal]

The little bottle does say that.

hmm. Quality of uploads via tapatalk not too good. In the box on the lower left it says:

"Do not use this product on plants intended for food or feed purposes."

[HighSeas]

Thank you so much! I knew I had read that but couldn't find it on the larger bottle! Go figure...

[Ray]

That's regulatory in nature, only, to prevent liability and extra registration costs and issues.

There is nothing wrong with using the stuff on food crops.


Ray Barkalow
Sent using Tapatalk

[naoki]

Ray is right, NAA is categorized by EPA as a pesticide, that's why there is the warning. It's unlikely to be toxic to human at such a low concentration. IBA is naturally in plants.

With regard to storage, I don't know about freezing. NAA is more stable than IBA or IAA, and both IBA and IAA are highly sensitive to light. According to the following paper, 50% of IBA breaks down after 10 days (with 16h day light, 508.38fc of Cool White Florescent light). Natural auxin is more sensitive to light (>90% loss of IAA after 10 days). So you should make sure that you are keeping KLN (and kelp extracts) in a dark area.

"Stability of IAA and IBA in Nutrient Medium to Several Tissue Culture" by Scott Nissen and Ellen Sutter

[HighSeas]

Now THAT is some VERY useful information! Thank you SO much! I've never been able to figure out why a person can't put it on food crops. I grow peppers and herbs and have always wanted to give them a dose! In fact...I'm on my way out right now to do just that! Thank you so much!