Jerry's Grow - Jerry Rodder - Wundergrow

[jcaesar]

I've been out of the orchid hobby for 4 years caring for ailing family members and two hurricanes which flattened my greenhouses. Now that I'm back in the hobby, I'm trying to trackdown what happened to Jerry's Grow fertilizer. I had used Jerry's Grow for years with lots of success. Did he go out of business? Is there any alternative fertilizer out there which uses alcohol to kick start growth? Any info about what happened with Jerry's Grow would be appreciated...Thanks!

Tim.

[Ross]

Can't help with the fertilizer, but welcome back to the hobby and welcome to the board. Glad you chose to join.

[BikerDoc5968]

Yes, glad you're back! Since I'm not at all familiar with Jerry's Grow fertrilizer, it would help if you know the formulation of the product we could make some personal recommendations....

[John D.]

There is another thread about "use of alcohol in raising orchids" that has a discussion of Jerry's grow. Check there

[jcaesar]

Originally Posted by BikerDoc5968

Yes, glad you're back! Since I'm not at all familiar with Jerry's Grow fertrilizer, it would help if you know the formulation of the product we could make some personal recommendations....

Hi BikerDoc...from what I understand, Jerry's Grow used methanol which caused the plant to immediately absorb the nutrients. I think there was also some kind of calcium, which settled to the bottom of the bottle. I'm trying to track down the ingredients.

[BikerDoc5968]

When I did a search, this is what I found. I don't know if this is the same thing. As I checked out other links in my search, they all came up to a dead-end.... I have a feeling Jerry "ain't" no more.

Jerry's Grow 3-1-1 lists 1.5% each of ammoniacal and nitrate nitrogen. Although they are not listed individually, it also claims to have all necessary micronutrients except calcium. He recommends shaking the container before use, as some of it will precipitate to the bottom. For pleurothallids and miltoonia, 1 « tsp./gal is recommended; for phals and paphs, 2 tsp./gal., and for other orchids, 3 tsp./gal. Orchid Zone uses at the rate of 1 tsp./gal. and does not adjust for pH. They alternate with a 6-25-25 fertilizer.

1 t. 6.4 pH and 320 ppm TDS
3 t. 6.0 pH and 780 ppm TDS

[penbrook]

I also used Jerry's Grow for several years with noticible increase in numbers of new Catt leads and similar increased performance in other orchids. Because of work/travel, I've also been out of the hobby for 5+ years. Now I can't find or contact Jerry's Grow to order more. I found a referral to wundergrow.com (Jerry Rodder's company) which now takes you to a Japanese? language website which Google does not translate. (Maybe his patent/company was sold to someone in Japan?) I also found links to Jerry Rodder's patent which is slightly thick reading but describes his materials and results. He added methanol (2-5%) to 10-5-5? liquid fertilizer. (When I opened his bottles of fertilizer, I was alway reminded of flying model airplanes because of the methanol smell) It turns out that Dyna-Grow makes a 10-5-5 fertilizer, but only sells it in "drums." I'm considering adding small amounts of dry ammonium nitrate fertilizer to a homemade "mix" of some other Dyna-Grow product PLUS ~2% methanol PLUS minimal amounts of ammonium nitrate fertilizer.

To be safe, I'll probably begin without the ammonium nitrate and then slowly add small amounts.

By the way, Methanol (wood alcohol) is now hard to find.....used to be in hardware stores for chafing dish burners. I've finally been able to find it online at chemical/lab supply companies.

[msaar]

I was a user of Jerry's Grow, with great results, especially on Cattleya family plants. He went out of business pretty much without warning several years ago. I found out when I tried to reorder. I never knew for sure why he went out of business or tried to sell the formula.

[jcaesar]

Originally Posted by penbrook

I'm considering adding small amounts of dry ammonium nitrate fertilizer to a homemade "mix" of some other Dyna-Grow product PLUS ~2% methanol PLUS minimal amounts of ammonium nitrate fertilizer.

I was a big fan of Wundergrow-Jerry's Grow. I used to coordinate group orders for my club. I too had taken a break from the hobby (to deal with life) and when I returned, he had closed shop. From what I heard, he sold the business. The new owners didn't do as well marketing the product and stopped production. Luckily I had some stashed away of which I'm on my last bottle. (I love how it smells...and Physan too) I too found his patent info online and would be interested in brewing my own. I had heard that you can use Dynagrow 10-5-5 and add methanol. Last I heard Jerry Rodder was still alive and well and active in the orchid community out in California. Does anyone on the board know him or how to contact him? Perhaps he could give us some suggestions on how to brew our own.

Thanks for posting to this thread. Could you post where you found the Methanol and Ammonium nitrate?

[littlefrog]

Seemed like back when this was popular there was some concern that the formulation caused great growth, but the growth was 'soft'. In other words, not as resistant to infestation/fungus/mechanical damage/whatever else.

I have never used it, even when it was the best thing since sliced bread. My take on fertilizers is that the newest fertilizer is always the best. Why? You spent money (probably more money than you wanted to) on it. So you actually use it. Then, over time, you start forgetting to use it as regularly... Next new fertilizer comes out, you buy it, and it is the best thing ever. Why? Because you remember to use it... I think the best thing to do is just remember to fertilize rather than chasing the newest trend.