Thanks for posting this DD, I'll keep an eye out for it. I used to frequent my local hydro store a lot but unfortunately they went out of business a couple of years ago & there's no other close by. Roots Organics has good products.

I will check it out, thanks

The one I’m brewing right now is a bit smelly. Decided to brew it stronger & then dilute as I water.

Spread my terp tea today before big rain. Here’s hoping!

Wow! Do you remember which that was? We need our chemists here to weigh in!!

Says it, "improves the expression of phenotypic characterization such as purple coloration" Purpinator...lol

No clue if its hogwash or really works..it would be fun to experiment with purple leafed plants, or purple flowered eggplants or peppers, purple roses, etc and see.

Okay! Let’s experiment!

@sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish) -- I bought some purpinator at the hydroponics store and put some on my lavender/purple roses. I'll keep you posted! :-)

Oh cool. Thats the one! Which roses are you going to try it on? Are you going to try on just purples or also on the deep reds? I had totally forgot about it with the horrid summer we have been having. I just ordered mine!

I put it on Angel Face, Perfume Factory, Love Song, and... some of the deep pinks -- like James L. Austin. A couple others. I haven't noticed a difference, but I only did one application. And we've been in hot hot hot mode, so it's not fair to compare right now. Maybe I should do another round in a bit. Once we get cooler fall weather I'll get some good blooms.

DD,

Here’s the label ingredients of Purpinator? It sounds very interesting! Cool!

i wonder what is in your Terp Tea, too?

I irdered alfalfa but think its similar to grass in nutrients, after reading the NPKs. I think I will try some grass clippings in the beds-then top w/ little bedding soil lightly.

it has .01 Nitrogen, 4 Phosphorous, 2 Potassium,

which is similar to Alaska Morbloom . Phosphorous Phosphorous/Potassium co tribute to blooming. Nitrogen helps green growth.

Purpinator has EDTA metals, too, not sure yet if they help purples in blooms.

Blue flowers are from more acidic in hydrangeas. Pink flowers from more neutral or alkaline. In acidic conditions flowers turn from red to blue/purple as PH rises.

I wonder if Purpinator has more acidic elements in it to produce deeper red/purples?

Very interesting!

Alpha has root hormones Naturally so that's the difference. It's not really applied for it's NPK. I used to put the straw on my roses and I must say it really helped with basilRoses have Matured they don't seem to have a problem with that.

Hi, Vapor,

Thank you for your Alfalfa info.

Reading your post prompted me to further research Alfalfa…..It does sound fabulous for plant growth.! !

Alfalfa has the growth hormone Triacontanol which stimulates growth and development. It contributes to lateral and budding.growth and other growth. It also has an NPK 5-1-2. Highest in Nitrogen. And it has micronutrients such as magnesium, calcium, iron, sulphur and more. And it repells pests. Also, it acts as a soil conditioner improving soil structure so water areates better and it attracs earthworms and beneficial microbes! Wowza! Love it!

It really helped me. I liked it a lot but I just used the straw and that added to Best soil as well

I put mine on the purples amd blues. I also put some on Spirit of Freedom since it gets lavender hues. It had been really hot and not much was flowering well. Now, this past week its been pouring rain. I am hoping stuff will start flowering again soon. Our temps have dropped quite a bit too so that should help. I put some on my blue hydrangea too just for fun lol.

I think we have a heat wave Monday here, but after that I’ll do another round of purpinator. Kitty - yes alfalfa is so good for roses. Usually I do a round of alf tea, but forgot this year! Maybe in a couple of weeks…

Keep us posted, Sultry!

"Terp" what does that mean? I know a little about it in terms of cannabis, it's compounds found in things like pineapple that boost effects in THC? --I have only a vague grasp, and my memory is foggy.

I'm wondering because what if "terp" is just marketing for like, banana peels.... Anyone done a deep dive on the internet recently that could info dump on the subject? 😁

Thanks DD and Sultry for exploring the purplenator on your roses! I am obsessed with translating new methods in the cannabis community to all the roses I'm collecting. It's far more fun than traditional gardening. Airpots, hydroponics, compost tea, now terps... fun stuff! 😁

Vapor, I'm reminded I need to brew more alfalfa tea! I'd moved away from it, and then couldn't figure why my newer plants were struggling. Thanks! 😊

turpenes?

Terpenes are a large category of organic molecules (organic in the chemical sense). Here's the Wikipedia link for terpenes. It might be a bit much for some of you, but the earlier parts give a good general overview that a lot of you should understand:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terpene

I'm a retired chemistry teacher :-D

.....must get the......Purpinator........

Wow! Just stumbled on this post. So purpinator makes roses more purple?

Diane how many roses do you have?!

I really need to get two roses in same pots/soil & do an experiment.

The guy at the store thought the terp tea would help w fragrance. And then I wondered if the purpinator would make flowers more purple. I need to control for variables! I need a bigger yard! I need more roses! I need to retire from my job so I have more time to experiment on roses!

Diane - I blame you. Your purple roses are just too amazing.

Thanks for the wiki, Susan. This is from a growing cannabis website:, “What Are Terpenes?
Simply put, terpenes are the fragrant oils that cannabis and other plants naturally possess that define their aromas and flavors.
They’re what give Lemon Skunk its distinctive citrusy funk and Chem Dawg its pungent diesel-fuel properties.
Each strain is different, and terpenes are the most obvious element that set them apart.
Terpenes are found in many other plants as well. Do you love the smell of fresh basil? Yep, you can thank terpenes for basil’s enticing fragrance.
Cannabis terpenes are most strongly detected in mature, unfertilized (unseeded) flower.
Unfortunately, these terpenes can degrade easily in cured flowers through improper storage, handling, and exposure to light.
Any discussion about terpenes should also touch on cannabinoids. Terpenes and cannabinoids (including THC and CBD) both contribute to the effect of cannabis when consumed.”

Ps- I don’t grow or smoke cannabis, but after California legalized it, to a of local nurseries switched to it, and now the whole area smells! 😷

Deborah, you need to live in a semi arid desert. That's all it takes. Your environment is too lush and soft to produce a good purple, maybe. I'm full of purpinator. Hope you're feeling better and the boot is helping, you poor thing. How does one injure the achilles? Wasn't Achilles the star of the Aeneid? I was forced to read that. Thank you about my purple roses. They don't get anything special in their diet, except desert dirt. I think a controlled experiment would be interesting to see if Purpinator makes any difference. The scientist in me says, no, it wouldn't make the roses more purple. Too many uncontrollable factors, of course.

Z10socal, I wouldn't depend on Purpinator. My roses certainly don't get it. Diane

I just looked up the SDS (safety data sheet, a legally required document) for Purpinator, and it says that the ingredients are: potassium sulfate, magnesium sulfate, and "monopotassium sulfate". Since there is no such thing known as "monopotassium sulfate", I looked up the CAS numbers listed on the SDS, and the third ingredient is actually monopotassium phosphate, which explains the phosphorus content on the label. So two things to note: 1) their SDS is incorrect, which may be illegal, and 2) what you're getting is three common ingredients in many soluble chemical fertilizers: potassium sulfate, magnesium sulfate, and potassium phosphate. Just sayin'

Thanks, Susan, and I'm not surprised. Use a lot of mysterious sounding compounds for common chemicals and voila, magical properties that make purple in plants. And super mysterious fertilizer.

Deborah, I'm reading the latest Flavia book, and she is commenting that the essential oil in lemons is a common terpene, limonene, plus lemons contain sodium, calcium, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, copper, iron, and zinc. So maybe we could grind up lemons and make our own Leminator to produce a perfect bright yellow and potent fertilizer. And a harharhar. Diane

HA HA HA HA HARDY HAR HAR!!!
Susan - thanks for doing the chemical homework! What makes hydrangeas blue? More acidic soil/fert? So could any ingredients make purples more purple?

Deborah, lemons are acidic, so would they make purples more purple? Diane

I had one Quicksilver bloom open and it is indeed lavender but no more purple/lavender than normal lol..I will have to see when more open. We have been having crazy weather lately.

Deborah, have you tried Lilly Miller Organic granular fertilizer for acid loving plants? It seems to acidify the soil some. I know the minor problem I had years ago with Ballerina's chlorosis ended when I started the Lilly Miller, but I confess that my purples have always been purple, so it's most likely the luck of the draw.

Sultry, your results with this Purpinator stuff are what I would expect. I hate to say it, but the Purp is Snake Oil. Diane

Diane -- thanks for reminder of Flavia. I need to start those! Right now I'm reading a book recommended by a friend, and I think I will like it, but my attention has been scattered and I haven't yet "got into it." Usually I get caught by a story and then can't put it down. My friend, a former professor of literature said that I am a "plot whore." Who cares? I love stories! I put it up with pretty bad writing sometimes if I love the story.

Re purples -- My Angel Face flowers look like they should. So does Perfume Factory and Love Song. I just can't get Twilight Zone to be a good bush for me. This is my third try. One in front yard, one in back, one in pot. I think I'm giving up. I know everyone loves TZ, but didn't work for me. I tried another purple (was it Ebb Tide or Midnight Something?) -- but the flowers were too small for my liking. My Celestial Night is pretty darn healthy and blooms well -- but the flowers have a bit more red in them to be a true purple. My Lilas is still really tiny, so the flowers are tiny, but it looks like it could grow up to have a color like Love Song. But then, Love Song is so healthy, why not just plant another Love Song if I need more lavender?

Maybe in January I'll get two roses that are the same kind -- I'll buy them at the same time, use same pots, same soil, etc. But then do experiments!

I asked another thread -- should I sow my snapdragon seeds now? Some are cooler season varieties...

Oh -- Is Lilly Miller the Tone stuff, or different? I use the acid tone for my camellias. I see buds forming. I LOVE my Camellias. I just wish they bloomed year round!

Deborah, LM has nothing to do with Tones (which I also use once a year). LM is a bagged granular fertilizer, Stinky. It's recommended for acid loving plants, but I like how it acts in my alkaline soil. I buy it at a Northwest chain called Fred Meyer, which has great garden centers along with the supermarket, furnishings, home repair, clothing, etc. Diane

Deborah, hydrangeas are either pink or blue depending on the pH of the soil. Pink in alkaline, blue in acidic. But the real reason is the availability of aluminum in the soil. This isn't in the metallic form like foil, but in the salt form as aluminum ions (as with most nutrients that are metals). Aluminum ions are bound up in an insoluble form in alkaline soils, so there are fewer of them to make the blooms blue. In acidic soils, the aluminum is more free. So hydrangeas in acidic soils are naturally blue, and pink in alkaline soils (like ours). You could just futz with the acidity of the soil, but by far the most effective way to turn hydrangeas blue in alkaline soils is to add aluminum sulfate (sold at nurseries for this purpose). Not only does it provide aluminum, the aluminum sulfate salt is itself acidic when it dissolves in water, so does double duty. It's really effective!

Deborah, your post with the Flavia reference just popped up. Where was it? This keeps happening, not just from you. So far, the latest Flavia is disappointing me, and I shouldn't have said that. I did reread the 10th book to tweak my Flavia. I have read the series twice, and I read lots of favs two or three times. Try Jane Harper's The Dry and The Lost Man. So Australian. Get another Love Song and try Ebb Tide again. I just throw out snapdragon seeds occasionally, the year before I expect anything, plus I mess up my borders with snapped off snap stalks with seed cases. They lie on ground for a long time, but a lot of them become new plants the next year, and some can be fun and weird. No terpenes needed. Diane

Short and weird natural crosses. I just love to find these.

A Twinny Series dwarf