jjng5
Well-Known Member
Hello all:
Today I'm showing some non-scientific home experiment results of three popular Enzyme products that a friend of mine helped produce.
For those unfamiliar with enzyme products; they are biologically active proteins that catalyze biochemical reactions in cells. With regards to plants and hydroponics more specifically, they help break down dead or damaged cellulose tissue and waste products (ie: unhealthy root matter and create an environment that is unfavorable to root rot disease types preventing them from flourishing). Not long ago, my friend was not a believer in enzyme products (believing that they were likely another feel good product to drop in our reservoir and take our cash). This was until he purchased HydroGuard living bacteria product by botanicare and found only temporary and mild improvements with his roots and reservoir. The black icky root rot would be killed off from the Hydroguard and you'd show brilliant explosive tie-rod thick roots shooting from your net pot... and then in a week or two roots began to yellow, a few days later they would turn brown-ish and then turn mushy... you all know what happens next; stunted growth, lower leaf deficiencies, wilted upper leaves, etc.
Fast forward to today, by adding enzymes to the DWC reservoir with Hydroguard you can the mushy root mass decreasing in size while new white roots are push through it. [See attached photo]. Amazing! I truly believe this is a 1+1=3 product; huge synergistic effect. The only challenge... which enzyme product is best for the money?
I have read that Hydrozyme is wildly overpriced for limited effectiveness. With Enzyme products thankfully you can do the square paper test, which I will show below. You can cut a 1" square of regular printer paper and test which enzyme product disintegrates the paper square fastest. Paper, like plants root matter, is made up of cellulose.
Experiment:
3 enzyme products tested:
(1) Stress Zyme+ by API (sold at walmart and Petco stores)
(2) Cannazyme by Canna
(3) Sensizym by Advanced Nutrients
(4) Control group = dechlorinated water
1" sized paper squares utilized
Approximately 8mL of pure product utilized in transparent cups
Results:
72 hours later
Stress Zyme+ by API - no visual change of any kind. I believe this to be a bacteria product with no real enzyme included in this product. The label states that it contains over 300 million types of bacteria. While bacteria may help assist in the break down of unhealthy plant matter, I do not consider it a true enzyme.
Sensizym by Advanced Nutrients - slight corner sections of paper beginning to disintegrate, however the overall shape of the square is still intact. Will check back in another 24 to 48 hours for progress.
Cannazyme by Canna -- paper showing 90% disintegration, square no longer intact and only small segments of paper remains.
Thoughts: Both Sensizym 1L and Cannazyme 1L were purchased at similar price points online for approximately $25 each. My friend will not be purchasing Sensizym again based upon these results. There's an impressive Youtube video about Humboldts Secret Plant Enzymes, however it appears that the video may be sponsored by them so I'm skeptical of its results. Humboldts Secret Plant Enzymes is also nearly 5 times more expensive than Cannazyme and Sensizym at a wild price of $110 per Liter! I am really curious about Green Planet Zyme which is a dry formula with 16 different enzymes in dry form -- they state that liquid enzyme products have expiration dates on them because the "active units" which measure enzyme content in the products break down with time once they are exposed to water.
I wouldn't mind putting out the cash to test another enzyme product against Cannazyme (our clear winner), but I'd like to hear some other growers experiences and thoughts first. Hope you found this information helpful and I look forward to hearing some meaningful discussions below! Thanks
*Please don't forget to vote in my poll listed above*
Today I'm showing some non-scientific home experiment results of three popular Enzyme products that a friend of mine helped produce.
For those unfamiliar with enzyme products; they are biologically active proteins that catalyze biochemical reactions in cells. With regards to plants and hydroponics more specifically, they help break down dead or damaged cellulose tissue and waste products (ie: unhealthy root matter and create an environment that is unfavorable to root rot disease types preventing them from flourishing). Not long ago, my friend was not a believer in enzyme products (believing that they were likely another feel good product to drop in our reservoir and take our cash). This was until he purchased HydroGuard living bacteria product by botanicare and found only temporary and mild improvements with his roots and reservoir. The black icky root rot would be killed off from the Hydroguard and you'd show brilliant explosive tie-rod thick roots shooting from your net pot... and then in a week or two roots began to yellow, a few days later they would turn brown-ish and then turn mushy... you all know what happens next; stunted growth, lower leaf deficiencies, wilted upper leaves, etc.
Fast forward to today, by adding enzymes to the DWC reservoir with Hydroguard you can the mushy root mass decreasing in size while new white roots are push through it. [See attached photo]. Amazing! I truly believe this is a 1+1=3 product; huge synergistic effect. The only challenge... which enzyme product is best for the money?
I have read that Hydrozyme is wildly overpriced for limited effectiveness. With Enzyme products thankfully you can do the square paper test, which I will show below. You can cut a 1" square of regular printer paper and test which enzyme product disintegrates the paper square fastest. Paper, like plants root matter, is made up of cellulose.
Experiment:
3 enzyme products tested:
(1) Stress Zyme+ by API (sold at walmart and Petco stores)
(2) Cannazyme by Canna
(3) Sensizym by Advanced Nutrients
(4) Control group = dechlorinated water
1" sized paper squares utilized
Approximately 8mL of pure product utilized in transparent cups
Results:
72 hours later
Stress Zyme+ by API - no visual change of any kind. I believe this to be a bacteria product with no real enzyme included in this product. The label states that it contains over 300 million types of bacteria. While bacteria may help assist in the break down of unhealthy plant matter, I do not consider it a true enzyme.
Sensizym by Advanced Nutrients - slight corner sections of paper beginning to disintegrate, however the overall shape of the square is still intact. Will check back in another 24 to 48 hours for progress.
Cannazyme by Canna -- paper showing 90% disintegration, square no longer intact and only small segments of paper remains.
Thoughts: Both Sensizym 1L and Cannazyme 1L were purchased at similar price points online for approximately $25 each. My friend will not be purchasing Sensizym again based upon these results. There's an impressive Youtube video about Humboldts Secret Plant Enzymes, however it appears that the video may be sponsored by them so I'm skeptical of its results. Humboldts Secret Plant Enzymes is also nearly 5 times more expensive than Cannazyme and Sensizym at a wild price of $110 per Liter! I am really curious about Green Planet Zyme which is a dry formula with 16 different enzymes in dry form -- they state that liquid enzyme products have expiration dates on them because the "active units" which measure enzyme content in the products break down with time once they are exposed to water.
I wouldn't mind putting out the cash to test another enzyme product against Cannazyme (our clear winner), but I'd like to hear some other growers experiences and thoughts first. Hope you found this information helpful and I look forward to hearing some meaningful discussions below! Thanks
*Please don't forget to vote in my poll listed above*
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