Well water

From: JWi5770869@aol.com
Date: Sat Jul 04 1998 - 05:37:11 PDT


Date: Sat, 4 Jul 1998 08:37:11 EDT
From: JWi5770869@aol.com
To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com
Message-Id: <aabcdefg2236$foo@default>
Subject: Well water

Edwin Spector wrote:

"I was most pleased with my D. Binata. It lived on the sunny windowsill, with
my other CPs. It produced lots of new leaves, and caught little flies. Then,
in the winter, it suddenly died. All the leaves and stems turned brown, the
last centimetre above the compost going last. Even the moss in the pot died."

and:

"Thinking back, the plant went bad _around_ the time I changed from using rain
water to well water (I rely on friends for this). My other CPs have been
fine."

You'd be better switching back to rain water.Whilst well water may be regarded
as 'pure' its normally quite hard (in the UK anyway).Looking at your address
(and bearing in mind that I'm no geologist!!!) I would make a guess that your
water is exceptionally hard. One way to find out is to take a sample of the
well water to an aquarium shop. What you would be looking for would be a
carbonate hardness test and a PH test.(if its a good shop then they might not
charge you!).
 If the water shows up as hard and alkaline then change back to rainwater NOW
and flush the rest of your collection through with rainwater,as they may
already be affected. You may need to re-pot your collection in the Spring but
this depends on how long you've been using the well water.

John Wilden

Southport Lancs UK.



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