what does the article mean by "bloom stimulator" ? what type of products fall into that category ?
Every company has boosters that they sell but not all are created equal. There are lots of companies that use Plant Growth Regulators PGR's in their boosters and they should be avoided at all cost! PGR are toxic to humans and have been banned since the 80's. The rub is it's OK for flowers because we don't ingest them, that's how they get around it. You won't see it on the label ether. There are a few out there that are safe to use like Canna PK 13/14, I switched from AN products to Canna and sleep much better and love the results.
Here is some info on the PGR
Plant Growth Regulators (PGRs)
(E.g. Superbud,
Phosphoload, Boonta Bud, Rox, Rock Juice, Flower Dragon, Gravity,
Bushmaster,
Cyco Flower, Yield Masta, etc)
This article isn't so much about ideal growing practices but, instead, a warning about less than ideal growing practices among cannabis cultivators.
That is, the use of non-compliant and potentially harmful chemical PGR (Plant Growth Regulator) products used during flower set by far too many growers.
Just some of these products are Superbud (Australia),
Phosphoload (Superbud rebranded, North America), Rock Juice (Australia), Flower Dragon (North America), Gravity (North America),
Bushmaster (North America), Boonta Bud (UK), Rox (UK),
Cyco Flower (Australia), Mega Bud (North America), Dr Nodes (renamed Mr No – North America), and Yield Masta/Sudden Impact (Australia and NZ).
In all cases the aforementioned products contain chemical PGR actives (subclass “Growth Retardant”) such as paclobutrazol (PBZ), chlormequat chloride (CC), and/or daminozide.
These chemical actives:
Are classed as systemic pesticides
Are scheduled poisons
Have long withholding periods
Are in many cases and most countries banned for use on food/consumable crops
Are subject to strict regulations, pertaining to registration and use (crop type, application rates and times)
Are, in the case of daminozide, rated as a “probable human carcinogen” and in the case of paclobutrazol rated with, “This substance/agent has not undergone a complete evaluation and determination under US EPA's IRIS program for evidence of human carcinogenic potential”. Additionally, paclobutrazol has been shown in studies to be toxic to the liver.
Are, in many cases, sold illegally through the hydroponics retail sector and falsely marketed as containing organic components.
