Author Archive

IdaOrg, the company who created SHOT, began selling beyond the local market in January 2010. Since then the owners have been on radio, interviewed for magazines and newspapers, and have had contacts from all across the globe. GardenSHOT was created in March 2010 to help customers learn more and to answer questions.

Throughout the globe, we welcome you comments. In this area, we encourage you to leave your comments. Tell us about your SHOT experiences, whether positive or negative. Please write clearly. The best examples explain steps they used.

Most people have very positive results with SHOT. However, local soil pH, composition, fertility, organic content, water retention, and other factors affect how well any crop will produce.

Our intention is to help all of you to succeed. Please add your comments below.

Today I began a summer-long fertilizer comparison. I will put our ORMUS-based SHOT next to 7 other fertilizer, plant food, root stimulants, or soil amendment product. “Why?” You might ask. The reason is simple.

SHOT is a remarkable product. But as as both a small-commercial gardener as well as a home gardener, I want to understand more about how my plants will product. There are many products on the market that can enhance each other. For example, some products are designed to increase the mineral content in the soil. Others are designed to increase the humic acid in the soil. Still others are just designed as a fertilizer.

In this series of tests, I will be keeping records to see which products work best separately as well as symbiotically with SHOT. Of course, we will be documenting this entire process with dates, photos, and probably with videos as well.

The primary comparisons will be done on strawberries. I have a small commercial strawberry patch. We have eight double rows of strawberries, each 75 feet long. We will be testing the different products on different parts of the strawberries. We will measure growth rate, healthy appearance, size of fruit, time of fruiting, taste of fruit. We will also be adding SHOT to various other plants, especially tomatoes in the same 1/4 acre garden.

List of plant foods, fertilizers, root stimulants

Each of the products will include a suffix (A0-A9). The photos and discussion will reference these suffixes in order to track the progress.

Control Set (A0)

This set of plants will receive no fertilizers or enhancements of any kind. They will receive identical treatment in all other respects.

SHOT (A1)

Well, this one is obvious. Our purpose is to see how each of these products compare to or work with SHOT in a symbiotic way. SHOT includes fish waste (not emulsion), worm castings, and ORMUS. This is the only ORMUS product available in this series. However, we will use some of the other products in combination with SHOT in a series of B tests.

Miracle Gro (A2)

We are including Miracle Gro almost as a second control set. Many people are familiar with Miracle Gro. However, it is a chemical based product, so I will not use Miracle Gro on the remainder of my plants. However, it will be used as a measure of plants with some type of regular fertilizer as compared to the Control Set (A0).

Ferti-loam Fish Emulsion Fertilizer (A3)

Ferti-loam is also included because it is a popular brand, readily available in garden retail stores across the country. This will be used according to manufacture’s direction.

Monty’s Joy Juice (A4)

This product is available only online and through agricultural retail outlets. This product is more comparable to Miracle Gro. It is highly focused on N-P-K, not on a full-spectrum organic product. This product is labeled as 4-15-12.

NuEarth (A5)

NuEarth is promoted as a natural growth stimulant.  It is applied more to the foliage of the plant. This product has a very short shelf life.

ProtoGrow (A6)

Protogrow is advertised as full-spectrum plant nutrition from the sea. It is called a “naturally balanced ‘Superfood’ for plants.” This product, too, is instructed to apply to the foliage of the plant.

Monty’s Liquid Carbon (A7)

Monty’s Liquid Carbon is considered to be a humic acid soil conditioner designed to aid in breaking down organic matter. It is designed to increase the moisture retention of the soil. This is generally designed to work with other products.

Diehard Transplant (A8)

This is a unique product. “It is a mycorrhizal fungi stimulants trichoderma absorbent gel.” This product is designed to add to the soil once. It then creates healthy bacteria in the soil to help feed the plants.

Ionic Mineral Supplement (A9)

This product is unique. This is a complete full-spectrum mineral supplement. The manufacturers capture the “inland sea” full spectrum minerals of the Great Salt Lake. Mercury and other toxic menerals are extracted, and then it is formulated for appropriate concentrations. The purpose of this product is to restore the macro- and micro-nutrients in the soil.

All of these products are unique. Many of them may be integrated with each other. We will document the growth of these products through the summer.

How do you know if you have good soil?

Healthy soil will have high organic content and will look like dark chocolate cake crumbs. This soil has already produced a crop of carrots and is still rich.

Well the first thing is to look at your plants. Just like you, if you don’t eat well, you don’t feel well. You’ll feel tired. People will tell you that you don’t look well. Garden plants that have poor soil or good soil will tell you.

If your plants appear droopy, yellow, or what I call “soft”, your soil may be the cause. Plants whose leaves are strong, dark green or rich in color, and firm are healthy. The easiest way to determine whether you have adequate nutrition in you soil is by simply looking at your plants.  You want perky plants.

There are two things you can do. Test and add organic matter.

The simplest way to test you soil is to take a sample of it to a local nursery or Extension office in order to have it tested. This is really the only way.

Soil pH:

pH is a measure of how acidic or basic (alkaline) things are. It is measured using a pH scale between 0 and 14. Acidic soil has a pH between 0-7. Basic soil has a pH from 7 to 14. Many garden catalogs will tell you which plants prefer alkaline or acidic soils; however, most plants thrive around the middle of the scale. To modify your pH, you may need to add one of the following:

• Lime to raise the alkalinity
• Sulfer to lower the pH

It is best to add either of these in stages to keep from shocking your plants. Generally, it is recommended to add no more than 5 pounds of either component to 100 square feet of garden.

Organic Nutrition:

Your soil will be richer by adding organic fertilizer and amendments. Inorganic, chemical fertilizers will damage your soil in the long run. Organic fertilizers and nutrients will feed the soil microbes in the soil, which thereby naturally break down the organic materials into usable forms for the plants.

Consistently adding compost to your soil, especially in carbon/nitrogen balanced amounts will quickly enhance the quality of the soil. Leaves and grass, consistently added, can build your soil faster than nearly any other method. The Living Garden online video training series (or DVD) provides additional tips for a effective garden.

SHOT for your plants.

SHOT organic soil amendment is also a powerful, soil-balancing amendment. The main ingredients are worm castings, fish waste, and ORMUS. The vital role that worms play in building soil is well documented. Their castings contain high concentrations of the nutrients that are in highly usable forms. Fish waste is also a fertilizer high in nitrogen. SHOT uses both of these products in its production. When combined with the high-energy state of ORMUS, shot is able to stimulate the roots of your plants. It helps the plant build the important mico-root hairs that pulls the nutrition to the plant. The result is that the fruit of the plants are higher in nutrition and the flavor and taste are more intense.

You’ll never find commercial vegetables that taste the same.

My garden is more than a hobby to me. Although I anxiously anticipate the unmistakable and delicious taste of fresh tomatoes each summer, I grow a garden each year to store produce for the year. I do all I can to grow as early in the spring to as late in the fall as possible, and I teach this to others. Besides teaching my children thrift and hard work, I want my garden to be a hedge against storms. So I pay close attention to each crop and variety that I plant, its growth, its productivity, and of course its flavor. If it doesn’t taste good and if the plants don’t produce well, that variety is out the door next year.

I was skeptical

When I happened to run into a high school friend that I hadn’t seen for years, he began telling me about a breakthrough product that he had been developing over the past several years. He mentioned worm castings, fish waste, ormus, minerals, and several other things I didn’t know much about. He was all excited; I was skeptical.

There are numerous products out there on the market, so why should this be different. I have tried many. Some work better than others, and I have been using one that is considered one of the best natural, organic products on the market. My friend wanted me to try this product. Because I was just about ready to begin my early indoor seed starting project, I decided to do a side by side test.

What happened truly amazed me

At the end of the video, the plants are just emerging. All of the photos below are about 2 1/2 weeks from when the seeds began to emerge.

Picture 1: Chamomile 2 1/2 weeks after germination using popular fish-emusion fertilizer. Picture 2: Chamomile 2 1/2 weeks after germination using SHOT root stimulator with no fertilizer.

Chamomile and Cilantro. The growth difference on my chamomile plants were clearly obvious. The bottom left and center cups from each tray is chamomile. The top and bottom right cups both contained Cilantro. Both trays to the left (Picture 1 and Picture 2) were planted with the same varieties, used the same soil, received the same light, were watered on the same days. The only difference was that the tray in Picture 1 received fish-emulsion fertilizer. The tray in Picture 2 used SHOT. In every way that I could control, these plants received identical attention.

Picture 4: There are two trays of tomatoes in this picture. They look similar, but the left plants are taller and a bit lighter.

The Tomatoes Looked Similar These two trays of tomatoes are identical varieties, planted on the same date, watered the same days, under the same starter lights. The seeds germinated the same day. The ones on the left used fish emulsion fertilizer. The ones on the right had SHOT. As I monitored these two trays, I was constantly thinking “see, SHOT is not going to make that much difference.” As a matter of fact, the tray of tomatoes on the left actually appeared to be taller, just as leafy. However, the color was not quite as deep. It was a little yellower. I didn’t think to look under the leaves, at least in the first two weeks. So at this point (a little more than two weeks after the plants had emerged from the soil), I was far from convinced. But, I decided it was probably time to take a look at the plants from the bottom up.

Picture 5: Root growth with SHOT (right) shows the obvious health and future potential of the plant on the right. Picture 6

Root Growth (the real health) was Astounding I pulled the two most healthy looking plants, one  from each of the tomato trays. I could tell from the top that the foliage was more dense and the color better, even though they were a little shorter on the SHOT plants. The growth of the fertilized plant was clearly taller. The leaves were about 11 inches (after just two weeks). I was certain that the plant on the left would grow well. When I pulled each of the plants out of the cup of the tray and looked at the root structure, I was literally astounded. Look at the root growth of the tomato plant on the right which has received the SHOT product. That is after only two weeks of growth. I would expect that from three or four weeks, but not two. I knew that if I didn’t transplant these tomatoes this week, they would begin to be root bound. The coloring from the bottom of the leaves was also rich and healthy. My best plants always have that deep green on the top and the red or purple hue on the bottom of the leaves as well as on the base of the stems. I don’t know why. This goes away when they are planted outside. But I’ve noticed that the plants that do the best have this deep green on top and red on bottom.

At this point in the experiment, I decided I was convinced. Every plant that I compared, especially from the bottom up, the SHOT plant root system had superior growth and maturity.  I stopped that portion of my comparison. I realized that if I wanted my garden plants to do well, I would use the SHOT. I took my tomato plants and some of my other plants and transplanted them to bigger pots like I always do at this stage of early growth. But this time, I mixed the recommended dose of SHOT with water, and I watered all of my plants with SHOT.

While I was transplanting, I separated plants if I had more than one in a pot. Sometimes the roots were bound together, so I would simply pinch off the smaller plants with my fingernails and leave the best plant. The interesting thing was that I could pinch off the stems of the plants which had used the fish emulsion fertilizer, but every one of the tomato plants that had used SHOT had a stronger stem. I tried pinch them off, but the fibrous tissue would not allow me to pinch all the way through with my fingernails without strong yanking on the plant. I actually got a pair of scissors to do the job. That, again, was an amazing difference.

After transplanting, I put the plants under the growing lights. That was Monday. Wednesday evening I checked my plants again.

This time I was flabbergasted. I thought “no way.”

Two days later I took the following pictures.

Picture 7: This tomato added a full inch of growth in just two days.

Picture 8: The stem had almost doubled in width.

I want to show you the “weak” plant. These two pictures are of same plant as in the taller, weaker plant in picture 5. In just two days this plant had grown a full inch. (Picture 7) (The plant measures a full 2 inches taller, but 1 inch can be accounted for from the larger pot.) The leaves had already begun to darken, and the stem had clearly strengthened and nearly doubled in width. (above)

After I added the SHOT, it immediately took off. The last two days of growth have been impressive.

Comparison of Parsley after Adding SHOT recommended dosage.

Picture 9: Parsley from Picture 3.

Picture 10. Parsley after just two days with SHOT added.

The plants in picture 9 are the same as the plants in picture 10. On the day I took picture 9, I gave all the plants in both trays a recommended dose of SHOT. Picture 10 was taken only 2 days later. I was amazed at the growth.

My friend had been right. I could not believe the difference.

Of course I will continue to double-test using SHOT in many different scenarios. I’ll be putting it on my fruit trees and my garden.