Banned stretch reducing flowering supplements (PGR)

Archived from now defunct: integralhydro.com

THE CURIOUS CASE OF THE FLOWER DRAGON

Epilogue – added in 2016: The following story resulted in triggering an investigation by the CDFA (Californian Department of Food and Agriculture) into PGR containing products that were being sold through Californian hydroponic retail stores in 2010/11. The investigation resulted in several bloom boosters being pulled off hydroponic store shelves in California and Oregon – among them were Dutchmaster Phosphoload aka Superbud (Alar and Paclobutrazol), Flower Dragon (Alar and Paclobutrazol), Top Load (Alar), Emerald Triangle Gravity and Emerald Triangle Bushmaster (Paclobutrazol). Further, Flower Dragon was removed from the UK market by Ikon Distribution who were knowingly selling a rebranded Super Bud which they had been forced to recall from the UK market in 2003.

Today, 5 years on, Dutchmaster (DM) – distributed through Transloc – has lost massive market share in the Californian market and now only has a few products registered there. Additionally, DMs market share in the U.S., in general, has dramatically dwindled.

Steve Berlow, the man behind Flower Dragon (ex Dutchmaster), released an ill-fated line of nutrients (Uber) after Flower Dragon was exposed as containing Alar and Paclobutrazol. Both Flower Dragon and Superbud continue to be sold illegally as under the counter products in many US stores.

Anyway, a bit of now infamous hydro industry history. “The Curious Case of the Flower Dragon”. The story that finally exposed the PGR peddlers – sociopathic miscreants thinly disguised as business men.

The Curious Case of the Flower Dragon

Let’s look at some industry products and the jargon that is used to promote them. I.e. a reality check.

First off the block: A product named Flower Dragon. I originally found this product on Ikon Internationals website – the largest hydro wholesaler/distributor in the UK. In the US it is being distributed via National Garden Wholesale (the largest wholesaler stateside – a division of Sunlight Supply Inc).

What sparked my interest was the awe-inspiring name and Ikons listing; “Flower Dragon MANUFACTURED BY (Not Specified)”.

“Not Specified”? I wonder why?

The promo for the product:

“Flower Dragon is a new kind of flower booster. The easiest most powerful flower booster you have ever used. Simply use Flower Dragon at 3ml per litre during week 3 of flower. It’s that easy!!! …Developed by leading plant physiologists, bio-chemists and plant performance researchers from around the world – Flower Dragon will leave you absolutely gob smacked!”

It did – I reasoned that “leading plant physiologists, bio-chemists and plantperformance researchers from around the world” would have better things to do for humanity than develop marijuana-growing products (call me a cynic).

Author’s note for the US: “Gob smacked” is a British term. Its’ definition first appeared in writing in the mid 1980’s. ‘Gob’ is of Scottish Gaelic origin meaning beak or bill. Gob has long been used in Northern regions of Britain as a word for mouth. E.g. “Shut your gob”. So to be gobsmacked is to be struck dumb as if by a smack in the mouth. MacMillan Dictionary defines “gobsmacked” as: adjective, British informal… surprised, shocked, amazed, speechless, astonished.

Linguistics aside, let’s dig deeper.

On the (name withheld) Hydroponics website they advertise Flower Dragon with.

“Flower Dragon mineral base flowering supplement.”

Not really. Its minerals are listed as 0- 0.15- 0.30.. Based on its NPK listing it’s little more than water, at least at first glance.

It is important to note that under US standards, P is listed as P2O5 and K is listed as K20. Given this, Flower Dragon’s elemental NPK ratio is 0- 0.0645- 0.249 or, 645ppm of P and 2,490ppm of K. This would deliver approx 7.47ppm of K and 1.9ppm of P when diluted at 3ml/L in solution. When you consider that tap water typically contains approx 1.6 – 2.0 ppm of P and 7- 40ppm of K, tap water contains more NPK than this $120.00 product.

They then go onto state: “A similar product to Rox or Superbud.”

Intrigued, I fired off an email to (name withheld) Hydroponics to inquire further.

Their response;

“Flower dragon is a great product and the feed back we are getting bnack (sic) is nothing but good. Flower dragon however is a legal product.”

Ok. I responded with:

“Thanks for the response, so what actives are listed??? What is the approval number??? Who is the manufacturer? Because on Ikon’s site they specify “Not Specified” … Please explain!”

Their response… actually, it all went a bit quiet. Nothing! No response. Dead silence! Hmmm?

Not to be deterred, I then went to Flower Dragons homesite @ (now located as growenvy.com)

The site looked fantastic!! A fully animated/interactive Flash site with slick design but nothing there to indicate a manufacturers name, other than “Copyright Flower Dragon”. They did, however note:

[Quote]

“We are a select group of industry leading experts and professionals who felt that there was a better way. A better way to research, a better way to develop and provide, “real” yield changing technologies that you can see, touch and feel…“Together we have over 100 cumulative years of industry specific expertise behind us.”

[End Quote]

I for one was impressed: 100 years of experience (wow!) but who is the mysterious Flower Dragon?

On the site they also provide usage instructions for Flower Dragon; actually, several options. Among them:

[Quote]

Hydroponics: Use Flower Dragon for 1 week between weeks 2 and week 5 of flowering. Add Flower Dragon at the rate of 3ml to 5ml per litre of made up nutrient solution. Dump and replace your nutrients as you normally would at the end of that week.

The Power Sprint
Spend longer in Veg than most for a bigger, better structured plant (4 weeks minimum) Need to pick up some time and some size. Try this

Power Flower Method!
How it works: Add Flower Dragon to system after you have introduced your plants to flower at a rate of 6ml/gallon of nutrient/water for the first two weeks – then continue with regular nutrient feeding program.

The Double-Hitter
Size counts, but quality matters too. A combination of the two can be even more satisfying. Use this combo routine for maximal size and quality!
How it Works: Add Flower Dragon to system at week 4 for 1 week return to your regular feeding program and then reapply for 1 week when you are 2 weeks out from harvest. Finish as you normally do.

[End Quote]

Wow – “the double hitter” and “The Power Sprint”…. Sounds like a sports supplement.

Hmmmm …. To the experienced eye Flower Dragon is looking more and more like a PGR. Prohexadione (3,5-dioxo-4- propionylcyclohexanecarboxylate) perhaps? Without active ingredient listing, registration, and MSDS, which would be standard practice in the legitimate agricultural sector, it remains largely guesswork. Let’s take a punt though – there’s no harm in guessing. After all, they fail to list actives – guesswork is all we have.

Prohexadione acts in a similar way to Alar (Daminozide) and like Alar, before it was banned in 1989 for use on any consumable crop, Prohexadione, a new GA biosynthesis inhibitor (gibberellin inhibitor), is now being used as a PGR in the apple industry to reduce vertical growth (apical dominance) and regulate budset. Further, Prohexadione is being used in the grape industry and other areas of agriculture as an insecticide and/or PGR. The APVMA (Australia) list an approved and trialed Prohexadione product as having a 56-day (8 week) withholding period while the EPA list another Prohexadione product as having a 45-day (6.5 week) withholding period. Acylcyclohexanedione (the base to Prohexadione) is synthesized from 1,4 Cyclohaxandione (or Tetrahydraquinnone). 1,4 Cyclohaxandione is an organic intermediate used in the making of various actives in pharmaceuatical, herbicides and various organic products. 1,4 Cyclohaxandione is a diketone and has two carbonyl groups. Chemical jargon aside…

Bottom line – Prohexadione isn’t suitable for use in a short-term deciduous crop (e.g. cannabis) and where PGRs are concerned this is about as good as it gets (re withholding periods).

FLower Dragon displays two products on their website. One, ‘Bio Sorb PK’ and the other, ‘Phyto Mineral Mix’, the latter being the impressive –albeit curious- Flower Dragon of which we speak. Their promo:

Bio Sorb PK utilizes 3 cutting edge compounds – citrates, tartarates and phosphates – that when paired with soluable phosphorous – radically and immediately Bio Activates the plants supply of phosphorous…. This immediate increase in available energy results in a dramatic increase in your plants flowering potential and yields by unlocking the floodgates to the plants energy pool…. (The also note)

Citrates and Tartarates: Increases phosphorous uptake potential by over 300%”” (Wow!!! 300% – is that even biochemically possible?)

Phyto Mineral Mix

“Giving Flower Dragon it’s unique “Blood Red” colour This highly specialized mixture of selected rare earth elements and phyto nutrients supports your newly supplied bio available phosphorous by helping focus your plants internal energies into flowering, producing large abundant flowers, without the necessary lag…… a process commonly known as “Speed Shifting”. To do this Flower Dragons harnesses the amazing natural power of Arginates and Rare Earth Elements (REE’s). These unique phyto nutrients synergistically work with our micronutrients to allow your plants their most naturally rapid transition into flowering”… (Wow!)

OK , let’s briefly touch on the jargon…

Citrates – they sound incredible but our mystery company is probably talking about citric acid that can act as a mild chelating agent, as a buffer, and as an acid to reduce pH (C Integral Hydroponics, Edition 4). Or they could be talking about sodium citrate. Or, they could be talking about potassium citrate as a source of K or ammonium citrate used as a buffer. One big question mark and some extravagant claims about a cheap to purchase and commonly used component when it all comes down to it.

Citric Acid is a sequestering (chelator) and stabilizing agent.

Citric Acid is a colourless crystalline organic compound and belongs to carboxylic acid family. It exists in all plants (especially in lemons and limes) and in many animal tissues and fluids. In biochemistry, it is involved in important metabolism of almost all living things; the Krebs cycle (also called citric acid cycle or tricarboxylic acid cycle), a part of the process by which living organisms (e.g. plants) convert food to energy. Citric acid works as a preservative (or as an antioxidant) and cleaning agent in nature. It is commercially obtained by fermentation process of glucose with the aid of the mold Aspergillus niger and can be obtained synthetically from acetone or glycerol.

The three carboxy groups lose protons in solution; resulting in the excellent pH control as a buffer in acidic solutions. Citric Acid also chelates metals (citrates chelate metal ions) and, for this reason, is an ideal organic chelator in nutrient formulations. C Integral Hydroponics, Ed 4 to see how it is used as a organic pH down agent.

Let’s move on….

Tartarates – presumably they’re talking about tartaric acid or potassium tartrate. Tartaric acid is a white crystalline diprotic organic acid – it occurs naturally in many plants. Other than this, it is one of the most common acids found in wine. Tartaric acid adds to the tart flavor of some wines, hence the term “tart”. Tartaric acid (tartrate) also acts as a mild organic chelator and like citric acid is used in the biochemical process by the plant to chelate nutrients so they can move freely throughout the plant. I.e. Upon entering the plant the metal will immediately become chelated by organic acids such as citric acids, malonic acid, tartaric acid (tartrate), and some amino acids (e.g. glycine), which occur naturally within the plant. This biochemical chelation process will then enable the nutrients to move freely inside the plants to areas where they are needed. The addition of both tartaric acid and citric acid (“Krebs cycle metabolites” as one company would have you believe) may prove beneficial in some formulations where organic acid chelation is required (note: I’ve oversimplified the chemistry more than a lot because both acids may also prove pointless in situations where adequate chelation, via EDTA and DTPA, EDDHA, fulvic acid and an array of other chelators, is concerned).

Phosphates: This is where things go from the sublime to the “are you kidding?” A phosphate is an inorganic chemical. Inorganic phosphates are mined to produce phosphorous. Phosphorous is used in nutrient and additive formulation. Along with potassium, phosphorous is highly beneficial to flowering plants (e.g. cannabis). Innumerous flowering stimulants (e.g. PK 13-14 etc) contain phosphorous and potassium. Flower Dragon state, “…phosphates – that when paired with soluable phosphorous – radically and immediately Bio Activates the plants supply of phosphorous….”

What? Is this alien technology? Typos aside, this simply makes no sense at all.

Next….

ARGINATES: This mineral form is bound to the amino acid arginine. It is able to penetrate the cell and deliver the mineral specifically to the plasma and inner layer of the outer cell membrane (at least at a human physiological level). It’s typically a term used in bioscience and/or medicine but isn’t used with regards to plant physiology and mineral nutrition. Arganine is an amino acid found in plant and animal protein involved in the conversion of ammonia to urea. Unless there is a spelling error and they mean ‘alginates’ or ‘aliginic acid’ which is a polysacharide and is found in kelp and brown algae. ‘Aliginic acid’ is used as a thickener, usually as sodium alginate much like gums and agar. Again though we are left wondering.

Bottom Line: Impressive jargon that ultimately is little more than perplexing dribble when deconstructed at a chemical level.

OK – now for rare earth elements (REE). I’ve left the best to last.

REE first appeared in hydro stores via a South Australian company named Dutchmaster. Dutchnmaster have somewhat of a reputation for misleading consumers. They released a product named Superbud in about 2000 with:

[Quote]

“SUPERBUD is the most innovative & powerful flowering additive to hit the market EVER!
SUPERBUD utilizes a new technology which extracts unique isolates from coal derived humates. These Humatic Isolates are powerful rare earth elements that, when combined with Dutchmasters propriety Phospholipid Technology, unlocks the floodgates for a fast & powerful flowering response.



The unique combination of elements helps your plants finish the growing cycle extremely quickly without the usual lag that occurs when you turn your light cycle down to initiate flowering.
The Phospholipid Technology (first incorporated in Dutch Master Folitech) then increases or switches the flowering receptor sites on, which then allows these Humatic isolates to exert their powerful flowering effect.

[End Quote]

Indeed! However, what Dutchmaster failed to mention was Superbud’s real secret lay in two chemical PGRs; one of which was paclobutrazol and the other of which was Alar – the latter of which was banned for use in any consumable crop in 1989 after a massive controversy in the US (The Alar Scare). We’ll talk more about Superbud shortly (stay tuned).

For now…back to “Rare Earth Elements (REE)”.

Wikipedia defines “rare earth elements” as:

“…rare earth elements or rare earth metals are a collection of seventeen chemical elements in the periodic table, namely scandium, yittrium, and the fifteen lanthanides. Scandium and yttrium are considered rare earths since they tend to occur in the same ore deposits as the lanthanides and exhibit similar chemical properties.

The following abbreviations are often used:

  • RE = rare earth
  • REM = rare earth metals
  • REE = rare earth elements (Hey there we go!)
  • REO = rare earth oxides
  • LREE = light rare earth elements (La-Sm)
  • HREE = heavy rare earth elements (Eu-Lu)”

Impressive stuff but technically, at least from an agricultural perspective – pointless.

On the other hand, U.S. military technologies such as guided bombs and night vision rely heavily upon “Rare Earth Elements (REE)”. Unfortunately the US military is having a hard time getting hold of “rare earth elements” (hence “rare”) probably as a result of “leading plant physiologists, bio-chemists and plant performance researchers from around the world” sucking them all up for use in cannabis growing products (Call me ‘sardonic’ I,e, characterized by irony, mockery, or derision)

Let’s move on…

Many rare earth elements are toxic and/or are heavy metals. Their chemical symbols: La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Pm, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu

However, I suspect (pray) what Flower Dragon are discussing is fulvic acid (a very common component that is used in many additives). Fulvic acid typically carries 70 or more minerals and trace elements as part of its molecular make up. Plants readily absorb high amounts of fulvic acid, and maintain it in their structure. Fulvic acid is an excellent chelator. , It forms four-point bonds with the elements it chelates, but unlike the synthetic agents it can be absorbed into the plant. This adds to the mobility of the nutrients. The nutrients chelated by fulvic acid can move more freely which prevents a number conditions like localized calcium deficiency that can happen due to low mobility of nutrients.

Fulvic acid is very impressive stuff and I know that I incorporate fulvic acid in many of my formulations (as do many nutrient formulators). But let’s not be deceived —– “select rare earth elements”? ….C’mon!

Just some elements/minerals that are found in fulvic acid:

Calcium, Ruthenium, Thallium, Cobalt, Indium, Nickel, Samarium, Thorium, Barium, Copper, Iodine, Niobium, Scandium, Thulium, Beryllium, Dysprosium, Osmium, Selenium, Erbium, Iron, Palladium, Silicon, Titanium, Boron, Phosphorus, Silver Lead, Platinum, Vanadium, Gadolinium, Lithium, Potassium, Strontium, Ytterbium, Calcium, Gallium, Lutetium, Praseodymium, Sulfur, Yttrium, Cerium, Germanium, Manganese, Rhenium, Tantalum, Zinc, Cesium, Gold, Magnesium, Rhodium, Tellurium, Zirconium ……

But consider this. To hit optimum fulvic acid target ppm in solution you would use approximately 40ml of 8% fulvic acid concentrate added to 960ml of water. This would give you a 1L concentrate product (similar to something you buy in hydro stores) that would then be used at approximately 2ml/L in the nutrient tank/reservoir.

Next…consider this: many of these so called rare earth elements are at such low ppm levels in fulvic acid that their presence in a nutrient (given dilution) is negligible. E.g. Yittrium is a rare earth element that is found in fulvic acid… Yttrium exists at approx 0.1ppm (in concentrated fulvic acid). Hence, given our 1L concentrate + dilution rate = 0.0002pmm. I’ve oversimplified this for reasons of conjecture – this number is likely to be far lower, which is probably a very good thing. That is, Yittrium is likely to be a threat to the environment and public health. I.e. Yittrium has not been demonstrated to be an essential element for plants. It is, however, a contaminant/effluent around nuclear reactor sites, and research has demonstrated that some plants will uptake yittrium when it is present at approx 1ppm in solution/soils.

Other than yittrium, rare earth elements, namely lanthanum and cerium, have been studied for their benefits on plant growth. The findings:

[Quote]

“Conclusions: La and Ce did not enhance the growth of corn or mungbean, but decreased the growth, root function and consequently the nutritional status of mungbean at concentrations >0·2 µM in solution…. While La and Ce had similar effects on plant growth, Ce was more detrimental than La to the uptake of Ca and Na by corn.” 1

[End Quote]

Bottom line: What we’re left with, at best, is pure jargon; no substantial NPK ratio’s or other substantial ingredient listings, no contact details for the manufacturer on their site, no MSDS, and no idea who these “leading plant physiologists, bio-chemists and plant performance researchers from around the world” are. Impressive… I for one am left “gob smacked!” (At least on this front, Flower Dragon aren’t kidding)

Not to be deterred, I scoured the web for more information, this time looking for US suppliers. One store in Dayton, Ohio listed it as Atami Flower Dragon. Uh huh, I thought, so maybe Netherlands based Atami –fronted by Erwin Rossario- is behind the mysterious Flower Dragon.

I sent the store an email to confirm the new information:

“Hi, I’m just wanting to know more about Flower Dragon. I saw on a UK site that it’s similar to Superbud. But the problem is that no one else seems to be saying this and I want to get hold of something that acts in a similar way to superbud (reduces height) but isn’t so aggressive. Have you had any feedback on Flower Dragon yet? It says on your site that Atami makes it. Is this correct? I used to use their biostimulants years ago and they were great! There doesn’t seem to be much on the internet about it but the Flower Dragon website looks fantastic…

Best regards
(pseudonym)”

Their response:

Hello ..,

Yes Atami does make it. You may check out National Garden Wholesale (NGW) for more info. We have not sold a lot yet but the few that have got it have came back for more. Thats always a good sign.

Thanks
(name withheld)

OK – so Atami makes it. Puzzle solved (or, at least I thought). I then went to NGW’s website to confirm the information. Nothing about Atami and the promotional material contained the same information that I had read on the UK site. Confused, I shot back another email.

“Hello…, thank you for getting back to me. So I’m a bit confused – is Flower Dragon similar to Superbud in that it stops upward growth and promotes dense flowers? I looked at the NGW site but it didn’t say much about what it actually does. I’ve also looked at the Flower Dragon site, which BTW is impressive. Nothing about Atami though on either NGW or the FD site. .

Best regards”

Their response:

“HI ….
I am not sure if it is similar to that product. I may have been misinformed about Atami. The bottle says manufactrued by Envy Plant Products Inc. in BC Canada. The bottle dosen’t say much about the product either.

OK, this is getting confusing but at least I now have a company name – Envy Plant Products Inc, BC. The problem is I’ve never heard of them. I get 4 hits on google – all of them linked to Flower Dragon being sold online via hydroponic stores. A Canadian company search on the BC government company listing website does, however, tell me that Envy Plant Products Inc is a registered company in BC.

I then sent off an email to (name withheld hydroponics) in California to see if I could learn more.

Their response:

Hello (pseudonym)

Yes, Flower Dragon is similar to Superbud however when all is said and done it is more effective and user friendly. Unlike Superbud/Phosphoload, Flower Dragon does not contain paclobuzatrol (plant growth regulator in superbud/phosphoload known to cause cancer). This product is truly unique and I suspect you will be hearing alot about it over the next few years. You can order this product on our website if you want to give it a shot. If not feel free to stop by one of our three retail stores located in California.

(name withheld)

OK, so we now have two stores – one in the UK and one in the US- who are comparing Flower Dragon to Superbud (also known as Phosphoload in North America). I won’t go into the implications of the paclobutrazol and cancer comments (other than to right a wrong and say that paclobutrazol is not known to be a human carcinogen – on the other hand, Alar is and it is Alar that makes up the bulk of Superbud as active).

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