I have recently used B-Nine on my indoor "breeder" zinnias (breeding zinnias is a hobby of mine), to keep them from growing up and touching the fluorescent lights. B-Nine seems to be rather safe on plants, and I suspect the name is based on the word, "benign".

Since the area where I used it is an indoor breezeway in which a couple of computer stations are also used, spraying isn't a good idea, so I used an artist's watercolor mop brush to "paint on" a 3750 ppm solution onto the zinnia leaves. After a couple of weeks the untreated plants have grown about twice as high as the treated plants. The treated plants look good, so the stuff was quite effective.

I mixed the B-Nine solution in one-cup quantities, so as not to waste the stuff. I added a slightly heaping -teaspoon measure of B-Nine granules to a cup of distilled water to approximate the 3750 ppm target dilution. I picked 3750 ppm as an intermediate in the 2500 ppm to 5000 ppm range that is recommended for zinnias.

B-Nine loses its activity rather quickly after you add it to water, so you need to discard the diluted solution after 24 hours. I don't keep it nearly that long, but make up small amounts of the solution as I need it. Any runoff into the growing medium quickly becomes inactive and there is no significant root absorption.

The B-Nine WSG (water soluble granules) are 85% daminozide (the active ingredient) and 15% "inert" ingredients, which is presumably the wetting agent-surfactant and a "carrier". With that much wetting agent, you would think the stuff would do a really good job of wetting the leaves, but in painting the stuff on with a water color brush I was very disappointed in the wet-ability of the solution.

Despite spreading it around with the brush, I found that the solution wanted to gather up more than it wanted to spread out. Applying it as a fine spray mist might work just fine, but its wetting agent should work better, in my opinion.

The instructions say not to add extra wetting agent, but I am tempted to experiment to find a way to make it spread out over my zinnia leaves better. I think there are some "waxy leaved" plants that would thwart the B-Nine WSG wetting agent.

Despite the less-than-complete coverage of my watercolor brush application method, the stuff did a very satisfactory job of retarding my indoor zinnia plant growth, and I probably will do more experiments with B-Nine on my indoor zinnia breeding activities. Since the wetting agent in GreenCure® is very effective, my first experiment will be to swab the zinnia leaves with GreenCure, let them dry for a day or two, and then paint on some B-Nine solution, to see if the wetting agent from the GreenCure helps the B-Nine to spread out better. And then I will wait to see if the B-Nine retained its effectiveness despite the contact with the GreenCure (whose active ingredient is potassium bicarbonate). The big question is, what will the potassium bicarbonate residue do to the B-Nine?

Painting the B-Nine onto the leaves is tedious, so I need a better way to control the growth of my indoor zinnias. The success of my indoor zinnia breeding activities is absolutely dependent on my being able to effectively control their plant height.

Both A-Rest and Topflor are effective as a drench into the growing medium, so I have purchased bottles of them and plan to make experimental soil-drench applications in the next day or two. I now have quite an investment in Plant Growth Regulators, but I am quite enthusiastic about my zinnia breeding activity and the indoor phase here in Maine's short growing season allows me to pursue the hobby year round. It's too bad they don't sell the stuff in small retail amounts, but they don't. Maybe I will eventually use all of the stuff. I'm going to assemble a greenhouse kit this Spring for use next Winter. My use of PGRs will increase significantly in the greenhouse.

MM

Thanks for the reply. It was helpful.

I just ordered a 1# bag of B-nine. I will start trials soon. You can look in the impatiens forum to see some of my wallerana impatiens I need to slow down and stay compact.

I have about 9 flats of impatiens, 20new guinea impatiens, 5 flats of vinca (periwinkle), and 2 flats of browallia. Soon I will be starting many zinnias, rudbeckia, salvia, and a few others.

B-nine does nothing for impatiens and kills vinca.

Normyd,

Thanks for that warning. Boxcar_grower hopefully will see it. The Virginia Tech publication, Selecting and Using Plant Growth Regulators on Floricultural Crops in its Table 3, under Impatiens, suggests A-Rest at 10 to 44 ppm spray (4.8 to 21.3 fl oz/gal), Bonzi at 0.5 to 45 ppm spray (0.02 to 1.44 fl oz/gal), and Sumagic at 5 to 10 ppm spray (1.28 to 2.56 fl oz/gal). The absence of B-Nine from that entry would seem to support you report that B-Nine does nothing for Impatiens.

On the last page of Table 3 (the table occupies 11 pages, which are un-numbered) there are two listings for Vinca. The first, Vinca (Catharansus) has lines for A-Rest, B-Nine, Cycocel, and Sumagic. It recommends B-Nine at 2,500 to 5,000 ppm spray (0.39 to 0.79 oz/gal).

The second, Vinca Vine (Vinca spp) lists only Florel at 500 ppm spray (1.62 fl oz/gal). If by "vinca" you mean Vinca Vine, the table does not contradict your assertion. If by "vinca" you mean Vinca (Catharansus), the table contradicts your assertion. All I know is that B-Nine works rather well on my indoor zinnias.

MM

I did notice impatiens is not on the b-nine label. I did read a few university reports about using B-nine on impatiens with satifactory results. I will give it a try. Vinca is on the label under bidding annuals. The Vinca is not determined. Since vinca vine is not determined to be a bedding annual I will use it and see.

Wost case is I have to buy 6 flats of vinca at the nursery.

Thanks for the info.

The vinca is the annual type and I've learned through experience to keep b-nine as far away as possible. B-nine is listed for use on vinca, but for us it spots the leaves black and normally kills the plant slowly. Wish I had some pictures, because it just happened a few weeks ago on some plugs with drift from what I was spraying elsewhere. We use a-rest or sumagic on vinca at low-low rates. It's always better to do it twice at a low rate than stunt the growth too much at high rates.

Haven't seen the VT info on PGR's, but those rates are in line with what most publications say use. Best to use those rates as a starting point on the low end and learn through trial and error what works and what doesn't. Like that huge range on bonzi of .5 to 45 ppm is simply crazy. At 45ppm on impatiens I don't think it will grow one mm. But then at .5 it most likely will never slow them down. We use 2ppm twice and they respond well with increased lateral branching and more compact growth habit, but it doesn't stop them from growing once they are in the landscape.

There's a lot of trial and error to find what works best for each crop. Last year I used Sumagic on snapdragons and they stayed short like I wanted, but they didn't bloom until 5 months after they should have. And that was only using 1ppm too.

Normyd,

"Haven't seen the VT info on PGR's..."

You can read the VT publication by simply clicking on the hyperlink that I included. Since it is a PDF file, you can also print it out for offline reference if you wish. I printed it and put it in a 3-ring binder along with several other articles about PGRs.

I'm still very much a newbie with PGRs, but I am using B-Nine, Topflor, and A-Rest on my zinnias. In the coming months I will get more experience using PGRs on my zinnias, because it is essential that I be able to control their height while growing them indoors. My mistakes so far have been on the side of not applying them soon enough. I am continuing my germination of staggered plantings, so I will have the opportunity to experiment with earlier applications. I notice that Ball is making available seeds that have been pre-treated with PGRs. I am going to use that to justify experiments with much earlier applications.

Your information about your real life experiences with PGRs is very much appreciated, and of great interest.

MM

once i sprayed b-nine on the chrysanthemum, the white rust appeared a week later. Why this happened?

Hi aaaa74186,

First of all, welcome to Garden Web. I see you just joined today. The Virginia Tech link, given above in April of 2008, is no longer working, so we can't refer to it. The current applicable Virginia Tech link is Selecting and Using Plant Growth Regulators on Floricultural Crops.

On page 4 it describes B-Nine 85WSG (WSG=Water Soluble Granules) as "effective on a broad list of species, but [has] low level activity and short residual [action]" and "multiple applications [are] generally required." "Do not overhead irrigate within 24 hours after treatment".

A description of B-Nine (Daminozide) is given on pages 6-7. Some specific information regarding B-Nine on chrysanthemums is given on page 19. A spray application should be in a concentration range of 2,500 to 5000 ppm (0.39 - 0.79 oz/gal).

As to your experience with white rust appearing on your chrysanthemums a week later, some more specific information would be helpful. Were you seeing a white residue from the B-Nine water soluble granules, or was a plant disease present, and what was its effect on your chyrsanthemums?

ZM

That previous post got duplicated here somehow, so I have edited it away.

ZM

no white residue is present in b-nine.
no plant disease present before this.
White rust only happened once i sprayed b-nine. It stopped elongation on stem.
What other method can i use to control elongation? (except b-nine)

aaaa74186,

"What other method can i use to control elongation? (except b-nine)"

Well, first of all, elongation is a plant's response to insufficient light. So make sure your chrysanthemums are getting enough light. The zinnia seedlings in this picture are not the least bit elongated because they have been receiving enough fluorescent light.

{{gwi:4096}}
But indoor zinnias do tend to get "leggy" with age, and I have been reasonably satisfied with Topflor, mainly because you don't have to apply it as a foliar spray. (Spraying indoors is problematic.) You can apply Topflor as a drench to the roots, even pour the diluted solution in the PermaNest tray that contains the pots, and let them soak it up into their root zone by capillary action.

Unfortunately, the drench rate for Topflor on Chrysanthemums is undetermined, at least in the link I just gave. So that would require some additional Internet search or experimentation.

ZM
(not associated with any product or vendor mentioned or linked)