Tips & Tricks

Alive Elite:

Tips and Tricks for Best Results!

Is Alive Elite safe to use inside my home and on my lawn and garden?
Absolutely, Alive Elite is safe to use inside or outside of your house. First, all soil contains millions of microbes, so this is nothing new to your plants or soil. Alive Elite is composed strictly with beneficial safe, non-GMO bacteria. Alive Elite optimizes the microbes that are already in your soil, and is perfectly safe to use as directed.
How long is Alive Elite good for (expiration)?
As shown on the label, Alive Elite is good for six months AFTER YOU FIRST OPEN THE BOTTLE. If you begin Alive Elite use at the end of a growing season and want to preserve it over the winter, you can store the capped bottle in your refrigerator where it will be good for a full year. However, under normal use, no refrigeration is necessary, and the product is good for 6 months after opening.
How should I store Alive Elite between uses?
In general, refrigeration is not needed. Close the cap and store Alive Elite at room temperature. Avoid freezing, avoiding storing in temperatures above 90 F.
What is the best time of day to dose Alive Elite?
When dosing Alive Elite to indoor plants, the time of day does not matter. Always dose with your regular watering, whenever the normal watering is performed, at least once a month. Alive Elite works by acting in the rhizosphere (the root-soil interface). Therefore, avoid dosing Alive Elite when it is very hot and sunny. These conditions may dry out the Alive Elite and dilution water before the product has a chance to soak into the soil. Generally, adding early in the morning or early evening is the best time to apply.
Can my pets or people walk on grass that was just treated with Alive Elite?
Unlike some fertilizers or grass treatments, Alive Elite is completely non-toxic. Pets and people can walk where the product was dosed without any concerns.
When can I consume fruits or vegetables that were treated with Alive Elite?
Alive Elite is non-toxic and non-pathogenic. However, like any spray treatment to food for consumption, simple common-sense rules apply:
  • Wait at least one day before consuming food sprayed with Alive Elite
  • Wash fruit or vegetables as usual to eliminate unwanted residue of any type
Can I mix Alive Elite with other treatments like fertilizers or herbicides?
For best results, always apply Alive Elite at least one day apart from any fertilizer / pesticide / herbicide application.
Can I stop using fertilizer when I am adding Alive Elite?
In many situations, you can eliminate the use of chemical fertilizers. However, depending on your soil conditions, you may need to continue to add your normal mix of fertilizers, even if at a reduced rate. Many users stop adding fertilizers completely, others simply reduce fertilizer use, or apply Alive Elite along with their traditional methods. The choice really depends on your soil, your crop rotation, climate, and your preferences. If your goal is to reduce fertilizer use, we recommend reducing fertilizer by 1/3 per grow cycle until you find your “sweet spot”. We agree that reduced or zero fertilizer application is better for the environment. Often, the use of Alive Elite makes this goal possible for at least a few years!
What about bushes and trees?
To treat bushes, use the standard dose of 1 ounce for every 10 square feet covered by the bushes. This can be done with a hose end sprayer or with a water can, but as always, try to get as much of the product onto the soil over the root zone. For trees, consider the root zone that the tree occupies, and apply at least one ounce regardless of tree age, or several ounces for larger trees. Use significant dilution water to help channel the Alive Elite into the soil and down into the roots. Both bushes and trees will show better health and vigor with Alive Elite dosing!
The hose end sprayer that you supplied is plugged up. What can I do to unclog it?
Whenever spraying, by switching the valve from the SPRAY position to the off position ever few minutes (briefly turn it on and off), you will eliminate clogging problems. However, if your sprayer continues to clog, fill a bucket halfway with vinegar and the other half with warm water. Soak the sprayer in the solution for one hour. Then use a toothpick to clear out anything left in the holes in the sprayer. Reattach the intake straw and sprayer to the bottle, then try again. Normally, the sprayer is not a problem at all.

The hose end sprayer that we supply is designed specifically for our quart bottles. It will not necessarily fit on any other containers. Our sprayer has a garden hose fitting, and the garden hose connection should have its gasket intact and seal well. Be sure that everything is properly tightened with no water leaks. Hose end sprayers work by a venturi (vacuum) effect and leaks in any connection can cause sprayer to not take up the product as needed.
Will adding more Alive Elite than the recommended amount help?
Generally, our dose rates are enough to provide very good results. However, as the product is non-toxic, there is no harm in dosing more product, or dosing more frequently, as long as common sense is used! If you want to double or triple the dose, that is perfectly fine, and results may improve somewhat. Rather than increasing the dose, you should consider adding more frequently (every 7 days for example) rather than adding more product at one time.