Has anyone tried this?

MsKitty Chowchilla, CA(Zone 10a)Aug 27, 2005

Hi fellow Hoyaddicts,

I hope everyone is going to have a lovely weekend!

I was looking through some older threads and stumbled upon Awanda's post about hydrogen peroxide http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/483097/

I have had great success using food grade hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) purchased from a local hydroponics shop - it is pretty inexpensive. I use the 35% concentrate which allows me to use small amounts (a couple tablespoons per gallon of water), so it lasts a long time. While there is the intervening variable of spring/summer sunshine, I have noticed that with the addition of hydrogen peroxide plants that were just sort of "sitting there," not putting on any new leaves (most likely because they are in too dense of potting soil and in too big of a pot), really perked up and started putting on lots of new growth. Also, I noticed an increase in blooms. What's also really nice is the H2O2 apparently renders the chlorine in tap water inert, as well as helps eliminate buildup in the soil from hard water, nasty chemicals used to combat pests, etc.

The only thing missing from the post Awanda provided was the importance of waiting at least 20 minutes after adding the hydrogen peroxide to the water before adding plant food to the water. Apparently this is necessary because it takes that much time for the unstable hydrogen peroxide to stabilize in the water.

For anyone who wants to try this method, I would suggest the food grade hydrogen peroxide over the drugstore kind. The drugstore variety includes lots of chemical stabilizers that reduce the benefits provided by the H2O2 (although those chemicals apparently do not harm the plants).

Two Hoyas that I have had for over five years that just sort of languished, never putting on any new growth, have perked-up very nicely. One, a fraterna, had just three leaves (the whole time!), and now it has seven. Another, an unidentifed Hoya, had about eight leaves on a long, very stiff, woody vine. Now it has five new ones and some green "bumps" that should also become leaves.