As I mentioned in my email of Thursday night, I have bought a bulk box
of the Messenger Harpin protein from Eden Bioscience. 1-gallon packets
are available for sale on the web site. I sprayed most of my plants
yesterday, but today I will begin my experiment with Amorphophallus
konjac offsets that will compare 8 untreated plants with 8 treated
plants. None of them are above ground yet.
To repeat part of Thursday's email...
MESSENGER by Eden Bioscience... (
http://www.edenbio.com/garden/)
For anyone who listens to Ralph Snodsmith's syndicated Garden Hotline,
you've heard him go on about Messenger. Messenger is a natural protein
that stimulates the plant's immune system. It has shown truly remarkable
results in stimulating many kinds of plants to healthy growth. Messenger
is used along with your usual fertilizer and any other chemicals you
might need. It is designed, however, to stimulate the plants into a
state of health so that they become resistant to sickness. I established
myself as a commercial customer with Eden Bioscience earlier today and I
ordered a 60-pack of the 1-gallon packets. I'm going to experiment with
it this summer and I'll try to do it scientifically with a control group
and a treated group.
In the meantime I will be able to offer Messenger for less than retail
cost. The 1-gal packets retail for $3 to $4 and I believe I can offer
them for $2.65 each (making just a slight profit, not a moneymaker to be
sure). Since I want to ship them well protected from the postal
machinery that means Priority Mail in a small box and that means $5 for
shipping, so I think they'll only be offered in quantities of 3 or more,
otherwise it's not really worth it for you, the buyer.
Visit your local garden store. They will probably offer the "9 gal pack"
which is a blister pack of 3 packets that make 3-gals each. The price
will be in the range of $20. After opening the foil packets you're
supposed to use it within 3 weeks, and within 3 days of mixing in water.
That's why I ordered the 1-gal packets. I believe there will be less
waste.
Messenger is *not* dosage sensitive. The plant's harpin receptors either
detect the protein or not, so a light foliar application is all that's
needed. Mixing it strong or spraying too much gets you no added benefit.
As always, the DragoCactoid YahooGroup gets notified first and therefore
you guys get the best of the inventory. I'll announce to the other lists
in another day or two.
*** REWARD! ***
I'm instituting a customer reward program until further notice. For
every new customer you refer (who places an order) I will give you a
$5.00 credit. Here's how to get the credit: tell your referral that when
he or she orders from me to put "I was referred by [your name]" in the
PayPal COMMENTS box when checking out. I do have a list of pre-existing
customers and sales leads, so any name that's not new will not earn a
credit! I'm going to be keeping track of the credits manually. It ought
to be big fun.
Thanks for being a customer and I look forward to serving your tuberous
aroid needs again this year!
-Ken Mosher
DragoCactoid.com (
http://dragocactoid.com/amorphophallus.html)
