H2O2 - has anyone tried this?

I am a first year, greenhouse soil grower and have problems with over watering. Watering can be tricky in a greenhouse environment. Since the area gets lots of ventilation and sun with shelter from rain, I usually need to water more often. I find a smaller amount more often is better than a large amount every few days.
However this being hard to judge and me not completely knowing what Im doing, and stoned most of the time, i have a overwatering problem.

The problem got really bad when my well dried out. I had to order water from a different source.

Aaaand I forgot to PH first.

Ontop of slight signs of overwatering, my plants locked out their food and turned all kinds of bad colors.

To fix this:
I fed PH perfect water for a few waterings.
Then added Liquid Fish Fertilizer 5-2-2 to their water.

After a couple days they werw showing signs of new green growth.
Even yellowing leaves started to green.

I was at my local feed store and they were having a 50% off sale on nutes! Yaay!
They had a sparce selection, andsince I already have a formula I like my attention was drawn to a bottle I didnt recognize....

H2O2 Liquid 29% Oxidizer
from Nutrilife Plant Products
"An Oxygen Source For Water"

Okay. Gotta Try That!

I took it home and added it to my regiment right away.
Within 24 hours I noticed an explosion in new growth! Although this could be due to the fertilizer, I have high hopes.

Does anyone else have any experience with this product or something similar?

It’s called hydrogen peroxide. It’s been used by growers for a while. I’m not sure about the high percentage. Be cautious because it’s corrosive in that concentration.

“Hydrogen peroxide helps encourage healthy root growth because of the extra oxygen molecule. Oxygen can help plant roots absorb nutrients from the soil. ... For plants with root rot or fungal infections, use 1 tablespoon per cup of water.”

That’s using the 3% peroxide from the grocery store. Again be careful with that concentration you bought. That’s used in actual hydroponics.

Using it against pathogens is the most common use. As an oxidizer it destroys the outer protective layer of molds and fungi.

29% will do some damage to what it touches without being diluted, very corrosive. Watch your skin for sure.

When the lead instructions are to read the MSDS before using be very careful.

Funny that it didnt say hydrogen peroxide on the label. I figured thats what it was though. No wonder theyre loving it.

Im going to dilute it further to use as a foliar spray against bud rot.

Peroxide also kills beneficial bacterial. Should i re-enoculate my plants after using it in their water?

flowerpower0118 said:

Peroxide also kills beneficial bacterial. Should i re-enoculate my plants after using it in their water?

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Your going to have to pick one or the other. There's no point in trying to do both, it's counter productive and costs you money.

Purchase a digital water meter probe.

H202 in soil make no sense to me whatsoever. It does nothing that would cause huge growth spurt. If anything maybe to treat fungal infections or root rot even then there are far better options. I don't understand why anyone would use this in soil. Your soil should be well aerated and if you need it for o2 your not doing it right.

I grow in hydro so if any of you soil guys can correct me on this I'm all ears

you can use it in a res with water and let it sit for 48 hours and you will have nice clean water to start then add your feeds and water the plants will do no harm this way.

zypheruk said:

you can use it in a res with water and let it sit for 48 hours and you will have nice clean water to start then add your feeds and water the plants will do no harm this way.

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I can see the theory behind that but in practice tap water has chorine/chloramine and RO has nothing that needs disinfecting

Aqua Man said:

H202 in soil make no sense to me whatsoever. It does nothing that would cause huge growth spurt. If anything maybe to treat fungal infections or root rot even then there are far better options. I don't understand why anyone would use this in soil. Your soil should be well aerated and if you need it for o2 your not doing it right.

I grow in hydro so if any of you soil guys can correct me on this I'm all ears

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It does help add some O2 to the root area but the most likely explanation as to why growth got better is it killed off pathogens started by the overwatering and allowed the plant's roots to do their job properly. Just looked like a huge growth spurt in comparison to how lousy they were doing before.

H2O2 breaks down to good old H2O and a free radical O+ molecule. It's that O+ that is strongly drawn to anything like bad bacteria or rotting material and oxidizes them. Will knock off a few good ones too but is not strongly drawn to them especially when there is dead or decaying material for it to work on.

As the soil regains health the good bacteria will multiply and take over helping to prevent further rot. Might be a good idea to add carbs to the soil to promote their growth after treatments. Just like us humans should take probiotics after taking antibiotics to promote good bacteria in our guts and help prevent bad ones moving in. I just got over a bad case of gastritis using them and it's nice to be back to normal bowel function. A couple days in the hospital on IV antibiotics and replacement electrolytes helped as well.

OldMedUser said:

It does help add some O2 to the root area but the most likely explanation as to why growth got better is it killed off pathogens started by the overwatering and allowed the plant's roots to do their job properly. Just looked like a huge growth spurt in comparison to how lousy they were doing before.

H2O2 breaks down to good old H2O and a free radical O+ molecule. It's that O+ that is strongly drawn to anything like bad bacteria or rotting material and oxidizes them. Will knock off a few good ones too but is not strongly drawn to them especially when there is dead or decaying material for it to work on.

As the soil regains health the good bacteria will multiply and take over helping to prevent further rot. Might be a good idea to add carbs to the soil to promote their growth after treatments. Just like us humans should take probiotics after taking antibiotics to promote good bacteria in our guts and help prevent bad ones moving in. I just got over a bad case of gastritis using them and it's nice to be back to normal bowel function. A couple days in the hospital on IV antibiotics and replacement electrolytes helped as well.

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Yeah I agree with that fully. I still feel a better option is a tea or beneficial bacteria/fungal innoculant but that's just preference on my part. You are absolutely right

Aqua Man said:

I can see the theory behind that but in practice tap water has chorine/chloramine and RO has nothing that needs disinfecting

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Actually bacteria and virus' can pass an RO membrane so when using unsterilized water further treatment is needed if it's for human consumption. I'm planning to get my own RO unit but want one of those UV sterilizers for the water we will use for ourselves. Those are as much as I figure buying the components for the RO unit will cost me. On sale every so often at Canadian Tire for around $300. Water for the house comes from a dugout on my property so has all sorts of things in it. We only filter the water down to 5 microns but I'll go down to 0.5 microns before the water hits the RO membrane and want a de-ionizing filter as the final step.

May just add 10ml of 35% peroxide to every 5gal jug of RO and call it good to drink. I have an old Polar Bear distiller but it costs more to make distilled water as it does to buy RO and adds a lot to my electric bill. Takes 24 hours to make 10USG using a 1500W element and my power is almost 25¢/kwh. So about $8.50 for two jugs compared to $2.99 each at the store in town. Hoping I can sell the damn thing to pay for my RO system after I clean it up and replace the burned out element.

Aqua Man said:

Yeah I agree with that fully. I still feel a better option is a tea or beneficial bacteria/fungal innoculant but that's just preference on my part. You are absolutely right

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That would not hurt at all except for the pain in the wallet. lol

I've been using a dry myco lately for my potted plants as I'm also using organics with my regular ProMix HP. Another one of those experiments to keep things interesting.

OldMedUser said:

Actually bacteria and virus' can pass an RO membrane so when using unsterilized water further treatment is needed if it's for human consumption. I'm planning to get my own RO unit but want one of those UV sterilizers for the water we will use for ourselves. Those are as much as I figure buying the components for the RO unit will cost me. On sale every so often at Canadian Tire for around $300. Water for the house comes from a dugout on my property so has all sorts of things in it. We only filter the water down to 5 microns but I'll go down to 0.5 microns before the water hits the RO membrane and want a de-ionizing filter as the final step.

May just add 10ml of 35% peroxide to every 5gal jug of RO and call it good to drink. I have an old Polar Bear distiller but it costs more to make distilled water as it does to buy RO and adds a lot to my electric bill. Takes 24 hours to make 10USG using a 1500W element and my power is almost 25¢/kwh. So about $8.50 for two jugs compared to $2.99 each at the store in town. Hoping I can sell the damn thing to pay for my RO system after I clean it up and replace the burned out element.

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Yup you are right it can... DO water is sterile. Spoke before thinking

Don't know if it is still available but I understand that Oxygen Plus plant food contains hydrogen peroxide. The peroxide is supposed to help prevent or counteract overwatering.

Also, there is a chemical called urea hydrogen peroxide, used to bleach hair and teeth, and I think it might be used in agriculture as well. I have read that it is highly explosive. In fact, I think I read that a drop of blood falling into a container of this stuff can cause an explosion.

Aqua Man said:

Yup you are right it can... DO water is sterile. Spoke before thinking

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Ya bad shit can def get through ro. There was a thread a while back and the dude had really bad root rot, took him a minute to figure it out. Water source was the issue even though it was ran through ro.