Anti-Transpirant's for Plant Protection

[amideutch]

I was over at the Actinovate website and came across a new product "Stasis/Vacation" which is a soil drench "Anti-Transpirant. Basically it will induce temporary drought resistance so your plants can survive without water for up to 2 weeks. So your going on vacation for a week or two, treat your plants before leaving and they will still be alive when you come back. Also will reduce stress to your seedlings when transplanting.
There's another company selling a similar product which has two formulations. One is for soil drench as Stasis and another that is for foliar applcations. The product for foliar is called Moisturin which not only acts as an anti transpirant but also protects the plant from insects, disease, frost, windburn etc. by making a coating/physical barrier on the plant surface.
If it does everything they claim it does you can drench the roots for reduce transplant stress and spray it for disease and surprise frost protection. They have a lot of testimonials concerning the products effectiveness and if it's as good as they claim, it could be a boon to us backyard gardeners not to mention the folks on the commercial side of the house. Here's a link to one of the sites. Ami

http://www.gsihorticultural.com/index.php

[Mischka]

I have experience using an anti-transpirant product called Wilt-Pruf and will tell you right now that it trashed every tomato plant that I sprayed with it.

It's a pine resin emulsion. Although it's great for rhododendrons and other evergreens, I would caution anyone here NOT to use it on anything you plan on growing to eat.

Ami, the link you posted above for the Moisturin /RootZone products makes no mention anywhere for safe use on plants raised for food. Am I missing something?

[amideutch]

http://www.gsihorticultural.com/mois...oisturin-5.php

http://www.gsihorticultural.com/bull...-root-zone.php

http://www.itascagreenhouse.com/page25.html

Even though the testimonials indicate the use of Moisturin 5 for foliar vegetable applications I will ask the question. As far as a soil drench, it is recommended for vegetables. That's why we post links so eagle eyes like Mischka can give them the once over. Ami

[feldon30]

I don't think it would buy you 2 weeks, maybe more like 1 week, but Surround seems like it would fit the bill. It's not so much an anti-transpirant as a ~50% sunblock. I am going to try it on my cucumbers this year as they wilted horribly last summer and production came to a stop before I could really enjoy them.

I believe it may also be effective as a shortcut for hardening off. Expose plants to full shade for 2 days, spray a thick coat and transplant.

[Wi-sunflower]

Wilt-Pruf has been around for a LONG time and was originally for tree transplanting.

I tried it way back when I was first starting out as Hubby had it for the golf course. If trying anything like that, you need to test on just a couple of plants to see if it will work on them.

I thought I had used it on my peppers and maybe tomatoes. But I may have used a lighter dose than Mischka. Or they may have changed the formula since I used it nearly 30 years ago. At that time I think it was basically a type of wax that prevented transpiration.

Carol

[amideutch]

The "Stasis" and "Vacation" is what initially interested me. With all the folks going on vacation during the summer months this would seem an ideal product for house plants or plants in the yard especially vegetable crops that need watering on a daily basis. The Foliar version of "Moisturin" will need more research and I have e-mailed the company regarding the experience Mischka had with a similar product.
One interesting point brought up by one of the companies was the use of the drench product on seedling's sold through the mail. Fusion and his "Selected Plants", it would guarantee a healthy plant even if it took a week to get to the customer. Ami

[DoubleJ]

I think for the cost, you'd be better off with something like this:

http://www.improvementscatalog.com/h...ter-timer.html

[amideutch]

Just recived a reply to the e-mail I sent to the folks that manufacture "Moisturin". Bottom line is don't use as a foliar. Here is the rely. Ami
Moisturin can be used during entire growing season but should not be used
directly on the fruit. When plants are fruiting consider using Root-Zone
for desiccation if the plants are containerized. You can use Root-Zone in
the field but it may be too hard to get to all the root areas.
James J. Glessner
President
GSI Horticultural