Any one use Hygrozyme?

[lotis146]

So I came across this stuff when I was buying a bottle of Physan 20 some weeks ago. It was an indoor gardening store in my area (I believe it caters mostly to marijuana growers, eh hem medical marijuana growers ) and the owner (?) recommended I follow up my Physan use with Hygrozome. For those of you who haven't read my previous posts about my Dgmra with suspected brown rot, I treated ALL of my Orchids because I believe they all at one point or another came in contact with contaminated water exposed to that plant. Didn't want to take my chances since everyone's in for the winter and treated the group.

Anyways, so guy told me to treat them with Hygrozyme a week after the Physan treatment because the Hygrozyme is full of enzymes that will help break down dead root matter - due to my suspected rot and use of Physan - therefore causing new growth as well as making more proteins available to the plant.

I haven't yet used Hygrozyme even though I treated everyone over a week ago, procrastination and life getting in the way ya know. For the most part no plant seems to have been adversely affected from the Physan, for anyone wondering, except of course a rescue Phal in full bloom (Physan got on blooms, in so many words) though plant itself is okay blooms are dying. Before I go ahead with it I wanted to gather some more info. I've read it works great, it does nothing, and it harms plants but most of this has been found on Marijuana forums. Meanwhile I found an article that stated the store they purchased from later told them they discovered there's no enzymes what-so-ever in the product, that was from April 2013. Type in Hygrozyme for Orchids and I find Slippertalk forum with comment from Ray - Ray - in 2012 saying he planned to test it out.

So - deep breath, long-winded I am - question for anyone with knowledge of this product, what was your experience? And to Ray, how did your test go with Hygrozyme? Are you still using it? My next watering is either going to be with Hygrozyme or a much needed dose of food/fertilizer for my chids (tomorrow) so want to get some on this matter.

Thanks in advance everyone!

[Ray]

After a very long conversation with the guy that runs the company, I decided to try it out.

It does not clean out dead roots, but it is supposed to keep "bio-plaque" at bay - which is supposed to give everything a healthier environment.

I used it regularly for about 6 months and saw nothing, so dropped it.

For what it's worth, I have noticed the best improvement in my plants' growth and flowering since changing my watering and feeding regimen:

1. Use pure water. I use RO. Orchids hate excessive dissolved solids.
2. Feed very slightly at every watering. I am now at 25 ppm N (divide 2 by the %N on the label for teaspoons per gallon; divide 2.6 by the %N for ml/L)
3. Water them frequently, and very thoroughly every time - it feeds, waters, and flushes the pot. (You'll need to pot in a very open medium.)

[lotis146]

Originally Posted by Ray

After a very long conversation with the guy that runs the company, I decided to try it out.

It does not clean out dead roots, but it is supposed to keep "bio-plaque" at bay - which is supposed to give everything a healthier environment.

I used it regularly for about 6 months and saw nothing, so dropped it.

For what it's worth, I have noticed the best improvement in my plants' growth and flowering since changing my watering and feeding regimen:

1. Use pure water. I use RO. Orchids hate excessive dissolved solids.
2. Feed very slightly at every watering. I am now at 25 ppm N (divide 2 by the %N on the label for teaspoons per gallon; divide 2.6 by the %N for ml/L)
3. Water them frequently, and very thoroughly every time - it feeds, waters, and flushes the pot. (You'll need to pot in a very open medium.)

Thanks Ray! I really appreciate your reply and experience. The cleaning of the bio-plaque sounds a lot like what the guy described to me at the store but he also seemed to have faith in it helping the plants overall. I think 6 months consistent use is long enough to call it a dud.

Thanks as well for sharing about your successful watering method. I went with your advice for N% today when I watered though not with RO, and I may not have had the most precise measurement but we'll see.

Question though, curious, what constitutes a thorough watering such as you suggest? I know that's hard to define. For example today I filled gallon jugs and watered everyone using them, pouring over in the tub. I'd say a 3-4" pot got about half a gallon. Does that sound about right (while judging through the internet!).

Thanks again and again.

[Polarizeme]

FWIW, I take "thorough watering" to mean "until it runs freely out of the pot" I flush the pots every watering in the greenhouse and in the house. I also use an open medium on most of my collection ~ Pleurothallis, Masdevallia, Restrepia, Dracula, Miltonia Coelogne, etc, etc.

[lotis146]

Definitely when I water it flows through freely. I usually douse the pot at least several times from the jug. Just did a KelpMax watering today.

[tucker85]

I used Hygrozyme many years ago and noticed some positive effects but, for some reason, I stopped using it. This year I tried it again because I read an article by Wes Addison, that said he had good results with Hygrozyme. I've been using it this year at a rate of 8 ml per gallon, along with my fertilizer water. That's about one and a half teaspoons. I've noticed the some of the same results that I get with liquid seaweed, bigger and more abundant roots. That makes me suspicious that they may use seaweed in the fermenting process. In any case, it hasn't harmed any of my orchids and I feel like I'm seeing some benefits, mainly in the roots. Overall, I think that liquid seaweed is a better product. I wouldn't use seaweed and Hygrozyme together, because they're both enzyme products. Here's a link to Wes Addison's article.

Big Leaf Orchid forum • View topic - Nutritional Supplements for Orchids by Wes Addison

[lotis146]

Originally Posted by tucker85

I used Hygrozyme many years ago and noticed some positive effects but, for some reason, I stopped using it. This year I tried it again because I read an article by Wes Addison, that said he had good results with Hygrozyme. I've been using it this year at a rate of 8 ml per gallon, along with my fertilizer water. That's about one and a half teaspoons. I've noticed the some of the same results that I get with liquid seaweed, bigger and more abundant roots. That makes me suspicious that they may use seaweed in the fermenting process. In any case, it hasn't harmed any of my orchids and I feel like I'm seeing some benefits, mainly in the roots. Overall, I think that liquid seaweed is a better product. I wouldn't use seaweed and Hygrozyme together, because they're both enzyme products. Here's a link to Wes Addison's article.

Big Leaf Orchid forum • View topic - Nutritional Supplements for Orchids by Wes Addison

Thanks Tucker! I'll check this article out. Read other people saying the same as you and Ray; either they didn't notice anything different or it was much the same as Seaweed.

[lotis146]

Tucker that is a really interesting article. I'm curious, seeing as that was posted in 08', how things are going for him now.

I had picked it up a bit prematurely at the time being in a hurry that day (and in a hurry to get my plants treated) but was going to look into returning it as I haven't used at all. However I may just give it a try, an experiment (though not so official) myself. The store owner recommended mostly because I was using Physan thus he recommended it to clean up the roots after the Physan kills bacteria/fungi/etc. I do appreciate everyone's input and experiences though and won't use together with my KelpMax.

[Ray]

Tucker, I don't know what seaweed product you use, but KelpMax is not an enzyme product, and I doubt that many others are, either.


Ray Barkalow
firstrays.com

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