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Rhizotonic by Canna

dean

Member
Joined
6 Apr 2012
Messages
1,541
Location
Warrington, Cheshire
Hi has anyone used this
I’ve seen Konsa’s aquariums and they look great on its but they always look great
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@dean
Thank U for the kind words.

I have been using the Rhizotonic since January this year.Dosing daily(6 days with one day off) with my ferts at 1ml for every 10ltr of tank volume. Its has really perked up my java ferns ,buces and mosses.Fissidens goes mad on it.
It is a bit alkaline but since I started dosing my cherry shrimp started to breed for first time in 2 years.All other fish and amanos acting and behaving normaly.
On the other side my rooted plants are not really responding to it but this may have sth to do with the very fine sand substrate I have in the tanks.
Tbh it does what it says on the box.Grows roots very well and helps plants establish but in mature tank there will be little benefit.
I have used ADA Green gain in past high tech tank and thats sth that boosts the plants to produce new shoots after trim like nothing I have seen before.
Regards Konsa
 
I know this stuff and using it regularly already for over a decade and this stuff rocks the boat. Tho it is not a nessecity, but it definively speeds up root development of plants. Especialy seedlings or transplanted cuttings or young plants.

It contains no significant NPK's maybe a number of trace elements.. It is a Kelp/seaweed extract 100% organic and it contains mainly Hormones, enzymes and vitamines etc. B2 is one of them, for more in depth information search the Canna website. It can be used next to the regular fertilization scheme. It can be used permanently also on adult plants if you budget allows you to. But it's darn expensive.

Personaly i only use it as a startup help in the first 3 months or so, preferably a dry start.. It is not developed for aqaurium use in flooded condition. Thus for the use in this, it is purely personal experience and experiment. But for dry starting ths is absoluty worth it's money.

Canna is not the only one selling this product root stimmulators of simmular origine can be bought from a number of different brands. All are rather secretive about it's real contents other than it's a kelp extract.

My personal opinion on it.. I think it mainly aids and speeds up biological maturity of the substrate. Its organic content probably is a perfect food source for bacterial development and speeds this process up. And this again speeds up plant health and development of rizhoids (Hair roots). If it helps bacteria, it helps the plants since both are highly dependant on each other and live in a symbiotic reationship.

For example the enzyme in it is an accelerator for biological processes, not only insde the plant itself. But also in breaking down damaged/dead root tissue caused by transplanting or other yet not fully decompossed organic tissue in the substrate. This again makes this tissue earlier available for healthier biological decomposition, speeding up this process slows down or even eliminates unwanted rotting processes and or fungal development.
That's my 5 cents on it, you have to see it alllong this aley. It is not an average fertilizer.

All you can do in a home situation for testing is monitor root development.. And i did in small pots with young transpants. Add this stuff to a number of them and don't give it to others. But for the rest give them the same conditions.. Regularly turn the pots over to see when and if roots are growing out the bottom and how they look. My personal experience averagely all plants that get Rhizotinic develop stronger and healthier root growth much earlier that the ones that do not get it. :)

Not saying that the plants that don't get it are doomed to die, they can grow equaly healthy in the end.. It just takes them a bit longer. And your transplant survival rate might be higher with the help of Rhizotonic.
 
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Btw must add, a lot comes down to initial health (quality) of the plant(let) itself.. Very healthy young plants don't need much help.. Unfortunately not everything is always recieved equaly healthy. That you often don't see at first glanse. :) But if it aids less healthy or less strong plants it can't be bad for the healthy ones..
 
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zozo
Thank you for that great explanation

I presume it would be good to use to help epiphytes get established


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It definively does.. Also on mosses.. :)
 
What dosage would you recommend

Konsa says 1ml per 10 litres daily


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This is a question i find difficult to answer.. I personaly didn't use it very long as addition to the aquarium water. I have no long time experience experimenting like this because this stuff is simply out of my budget to use it like this. If Konsa experiences and reports positive results at 1ml per 10 litres daily, i assume it's in a flooded tank, than it only confirms how good this stuff is.

Me personaly i only use it on dry start, terrestrial form plants, to get them over the transplant shock and establish a healthy root system.. Than i simply keep the recomended dosage from the label at 1/250 that is 4ml per litre. With this i prewater the substrate with spraying and let it soak in a week before planting. After planting i use same dosage in spray bottle but with Demi water only to prevent staining on the leaves. And generously spray the plants, wood and substarte several times a day. And this i keep up for the first weeks or months depending what the plants say..

Here is a quote from an aqaurist i recomended it to with growing epiphytes to wood above an open top tank.
Also used your advise with the dry start using Canna Rhizotonic for two weeks, the mini pelia and orchids loved it with signs of growth. I've had the orchids for a few months but no growth, since they have been in this setup plus the Rhizotonic some are showing new leaf growth :), Great tip (y) Thanks

The complete thread and results can be viewed here.
https://glassboxgardeners.com/threads/jasons-scape-father-nature.557/page-2#post-6530
An other report that confirms stuff does what is says for plants.. :)


For the rest on permanent use my take on it is rather in a traditional philopsophy.. Once the plant is fully matured with a healthy rootsystem in or on a fully matured substrate. I guess it kinda runs on its own devices. Can one make a healthy plant even healthier? And does it need extra help for this? If the answer is "yes" for your peace of mind, than using it permanently simply can't do wrong. Butt this is purely my personal take on it.. I don't know, i only can say i have 15 year old house plants at home growing perfectly healthy and they didn't get any rhizotonic anymore for the past 14.5 years.
Same is my snake oil view on super duper biological filter media the bigger the better preferably with bells and wislles. But can a filter be more sufficient than sufficient? Many people over do their filter with this idea, good thing is, it simply can not hurt even if it's more sufficient than nessecary.
 
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A neighbour of mine ,hes busy ,in and out you might see him often and not for ages so hardly a hands on gardener has the best roses around ,beautiful blooms,floweing well into October, I once asked what the secret was, you tell me he said all he does top dress soil in spring with Rose food ,water when able,dead head as time allows.So fertilisation at a minimum ,I know its terrestial gardening but makes you wonder?
 
I'm dosing around 1ml per 10L at water change sometimes a little more.

Have you noticed any improvement whilst using it ?
How long have you been using it ?
So is it just once a week ?


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A neighbour of mine ,hes busy ,in and out you might see him often and not for ages so hardly a hands on gardener has the best roses around ,beautiful blooms,floweing well into October, I once asked what the secret was, you tell me he said all he does top dress soil in spring with Rose food ,water when able,dead head as time allows.So fertilisation at a minimum ,I know its terrestial gardening but makes you wonder?

I know the idea, i have a bit the same, as said above i have houseplants in the very same pot already standing and growing healthy for 15 years.
There are friends and family asking me what my secret is because they kill all houseplants in no time and keep running to the garden centre to buy new ones.. I can only answer "You tell me, i don't do anything special". Other then i realy love them i guess and feel responsible. It's not that the plant senses my love and rewards me with beeing beautifull.. But in a way, because i love plants it kinda comes natural to me to look and see and give them what they need when they need on autopilot without realy having a thought about it and or a book full of secrets. :)

Love goes a long way... And many times its just a misplaced used word alledgedly with an universal meaning.
 
Going to use it to spray on some crypts that I’m trying to get to grow on top of a piece of protruding branch
What strength do I put in the spray bottle ?

Sorry for the question but I bought it cheap on eBay it was decanted from a drum so I didn’t get any instructions


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I had always assumed that Rhizotonic was basically just expensive water and some B vitamins like Super Thrive (which I've always kinda wanted to try, but the marketing just screams "snake oil" haha), but if it has kelp or seaweed in it too, I can see it being a very useful product in the way you describe

Seaweed extracts (homemade or otherwise) are awesome for terrestrial plants when applied at root level or foliar spray, and I had always wondered about their potential in planted tanks, so that glassboxgardeners.com link is very interesting.

I think I'll give Rhizotonic a try with my chilies and tomatoes this year (or a cheaper competitor product heh...)

Love is definitely the best addition to any growing regime however IMO!
 
I’ve put 5ml in 1 litre of deionised water and going to spray the crypts I’ve attached to the top of a protruding log in my trigon 350
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Took this today whilst doing my weekly water change


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