Connect with Jim!
                             Plain 2 Grow Systems
  • Plain 2 Grow Systems Home Page
  • Introduction to Plain 2 Grow Systems and Our New Forum!
  • Plain 2 Grow Systems Video and Blog Content Index and Link Page
    • Plain 2 Grow Systems Hydroponic Slideshow >
      • Latest Video added 12-03-2013: Plain 2 Grow Systems Easy, Inexpensive, Bigger Better PVC Pipe Wood Greenhouse Part 2 Almost Done ! >
        • Video: The Improved Bigger, Better PVC Pipe Greenhouse! >
          • Video: Plain 2 Grow Jim's First Easy-to-Build PVC Pipe Greenhouse >
            • Video: The Free, Easy-to-Do Passive HydroSock Plain 2 Grow Hydroponic Growing System
            • Video: A Musical Slideshow of Hydroponic Success Using the Plain 2 Grow System
            • Video: " Simple Inexpensive Compact Hybrid Aeroponic Nutrient Film Technique Hydro Hydroponic Cultivation "
            • Video: Purple Haze: Phosphorus Deficiency In Hydroponic Tomato Plants.
  • "Why in the world would I want to grow plants in water?"
    • "How much does Plain 2 Grow Systems hydroponics cost?" >
      • "What is pH and why is it so important to hydroculture?" >
        • "What are air roots? Why are they important to hydroponics and hydroculture?" >
          • "What is hydrogen peroxide - H2O2 - and why should I use it?" Part One. >
            • "What is hydrogen peroxide -H2O2- and why should I use it in hydroponics?" -part two. >
              • "What are leaf and nutrient deficiency charts? How do I use them? Where can I get them?" >
                • "What is ' foliar feeding '? How can it help my hydroponic plants?" >
                  • "How can aspirin help my plants fight off disease and insects? Is it easy to do?" >
                    • "What are hydroponic media? Which media would be best for my system?" >
                      • "Different hydroponic growing systems; if you are new, then try a simple, low-cost passive wick system." >
                        • Purple Haze: Phosphorus Deficiency in Your Tomato Plants; or Why They Look Purple! >
                          • My experience with EcoSmart organic, safe and non-toxic insecticide. >
                            • My Adventure In Experimental Hybrid Organic / Natural Hydroponic Nutrients: Edison Would Be Proud! >
                              • Basic Hydroponic Meter Function, Terminology, and Use: Explaining EC, TDS, ppm, and pH >
                                • It's Springtime! Six Common Hydroponic Insect Pests (with images) and How to Deal with Them. >
                                  • Determinate. Indeterminate. Open pollination. Closed pollination. Heirloom. Hybrid. Cloning. Help! >
                                    • Some Thoughts on the Extreme, Off-the-Grid, 'Combat' Easy Build, Cheap, No-Nonsense Hydrosock Hydroponic Passive System. >
                                      • Tomato Hornworms Are Destructive! Here Is a Novel Way to Identify and Remove Them.
      • Why You Should Use a Degrees Brix Refractometer to Check Plant Sugar, AKA Nutrients. It's Easy and Cheap! >
        • What Is Biochar (Biological Charcoal)? Part One.

"What is hydrogen peroxide -H2O2- and why should I use it?" Part one of a two-part blog.

8/17/2013

0 Comments

 
Okay Jim, what now? You obviously like to experiment and be really creative with your hydroponic plants, but does any of this really work or have any practical application? What does hydrogen peroxide have to do with tasty tomatoes or peppy peppers? Hydrogen peroxide is for bleaching and disinfecting. How can it add oxygen to my plants, clean the roots, AND add nutrients?

If I am blogging about it, it has worked consistently for me. My experiments are based in science fact, intuition, and a little bit of college knowledge. But it really has more to do with watching and listening to other explorers like me who have serendipitous “aha” moments. I take their thoughts, experiences, and ideas and think about them. I look for threads and “nuggets” of information that I can incorporate into my own experiences.

Experiment and experience derive from the Latin verb "experior, experiri"--to try, to put to the test, to experience. You don't have to be a white lab-coat scientist to experiment; you just have to be curious! There are some scientists and “experts” who are ignorant and don't know “jack.” There are some street people who can do Euclidean geometry and probably intelligently discuss the theory of relativity with Einstein if he were alive. I don't have high regard for ivory tower academics, scientists, and economists.

Hydrogen peroxide in solution is a clear, slightly sharp-smelling and tasting liquid. I am only going to discuss store-bought 3% H2O2. Why? Because it is arguably the most useful and safe liquid anyone can ever use. Jim, I've heard that 3% H2O2 has harmful chemicals in it used to stabilize it. I say BALDERDASH! Those chemicals are in minute amounts and are harmless. The brands I buy state that in the inactive ingredients list there is only purified water. They WILL NOT harm your plants -or you- when the hydrogen peroxide is used in a manner that would be considered normal and typical. That means “topical, external, diluted, etc.” In other words, don't INGEST or DRINK the stuff!

Let's get back to what hydrogen peroxide is and then we can find out how useful it is. In a previous blog I spoke about getting oxygen to your plant's roots via “air roots.” In another blog I discussed pH and it's effect on nutrient and water intake. Hydrogen peroxide can have a very positive effect in both those areas. Everything you will do in hydroponics is interconnected. Symbiosis rules hydroculture.

Hydrogen peroxide, or H2O2, consists of two atoms of hydrogen and two atoms of oxygen, whereas water, or H2O, consists of two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen. The extra oxygen atom in hydrogen peroxide is linked to the other oxygen atom by a single bond. Water is a good solvent due to it's electrochemical makeup and virtually all the substances involved in plant growth, such as salts, acids, and alkalis are hydrophilic -water-loving- in common situations and will readily dissolve in water. The ability of pure water to oxidize is low, but when combined with solutes, it becomes higher. The ability for hydrogen peroxide to oxidize is much higher.

Hydrogen peroxide has a good guy / bad guy persona. It is basically water with an extra oxygen atom attached to it. That extra atom, however, makes a huge difference in how H2O2 reacts with other substances. In solution with water, as a 3% solution, makes it only mildly acidic, with an average pH of 6.1, quite within the range of most plants. But that extra atom of oxygen is easy to “break off” and to “hook up” to other chemicals and substances. That property is what makes H2O2 so useful and bad and good at the same time!

Yes, even 3% solution can do some biological damage but it would have to be seriously abused to make what you did with it a horrible act. I swish my mouth and brush my teeth with it at least twice a day before I use mouthwash and toothpaste! In that amount and concentration it debrides my dead epithelial skin cells from my mouth and loosens the bacterial film known as “plaque” from my teeth. Most dentists recommend a more dilute mixture of H2O2 and H2O but I have been doing this for over four decades. In a nutshell, I've used hydrogen peroxide to remove dead, useless skin cells, whiten my teeth (bleaching via oxidation), and destroy unhealthy oral bacteria. I will concede that it can also kill the good bacteria in my mouth.

I'll give another example of how hydrogen peroxide is used and then I will attempt to apply my dental explorations to plant growing: Many European countries, some Canadian provinces, and even some US cities are now using, or have explored the use of, hydrogen peroxide as a replacement for chlorine in water purification systems. Why? Cost. Safety. Environment. Corrosion reduction. H2O2 is significantly less expensive. It's rate of persistence (how long it stays in the environment) is almost nil, unlike chlorine. It does not create dangerous, cancer-inducing halides and other metal by-products. It is just as biologically effective as chlorine. It is significantly less corrosive to pipes and plumbing and doesn't react like chlorine does with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe.

There are thousands of uses for hydrogen peroxide of which some seem to be dubious and possibly dangerous, but those center around human injections of solutions and oral ingestions of what sound like toxic cocktails to me. Absolutely nothing to do with hydroponics, but do some research on it; the information is fascinating!

The USDA currently approves the use of hydrogen peroxide (in a much higher concentration) for cleaning hydroponic reservoirs, feedstock tanks, food preparation areas, and other objects in COMMERCIAL operations. The USDA has not yet approved the use of hydrogen peroxide directly in the acts of mammal or vegetative farming or growing in commercial operations. It is permissible to use H2O2 as an insect abatement in lieu of some pesticides when growing “organically,” however.

You and I are growing food for ourselves and our family, and maybe an occasional farmer's market. We operate on a shoestring budget without “subsidies.” We understand hygiene and proper sterilization. We have to contend with algae, fungi, and bacteria taking over our reservoirs. We are always striving to find ways to disinfect our hydroponic gear without resorting to extreme and unhealthy chemicals. I will go on record at this point to say that I do use household bleach (8% sodium hypochlorite) sparingly and respectfully of the environment. I will discuss how I use chlorine bleach in part two of this blog on hydrogen peroxide.

Now that I've hooked you on learning more about hydrogen peroxide, you'll have to read part two of this blog! You can also watch my videos at my You Tube channel, Plain 2 Grow Jim . I'll try to connect my dental habits and the use of hydrogen peroxide in hydroculture in part two!

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    go to my stuff fast!

    Author

    My name is Jim Flavin. I'm also known as Plain 2 Grow Jim. Learn some unusual stuff about me here!

    Archives

    August 2013

    Categories

    All
    3%
    Algae
    Bacteria
    Bleach
    Chlorine
    Clean
    Disinfecting
    Fungi
    H2o
    H2o2
    Hydro
    Hydroculture
    Hydrogen
    Hydrogen Peroxide
    Hydroponic
    Hypochlorite
    Nutrient
    Oxidize
    Oxygen
    Peroxide
    Ph
    Roots
    Sodium
    Solute
    Solution
    Water

    RSS Feed


"As we search for a less extractive and polluting economic order, so that we may fit agriculture into the economy of a sustainable culture, community becomes the locus and metaphor for both agriculture and culture."  >> Wes Jackson,
Becoming Native to This Place