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Post by muscipula on Jun 10, 2008 8:50:53 GMT -5
Well where should i begin... the beginning of my time of obtaining these plants was sometime before and the moss i used was freshly harvested. So i have been with that for the past month. Is this a sign of decay.? (imagery- its like whitish on tops very mushier then normal,never growing.) -Wayne- (sorry camera broke  ) |
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Post by tom on Jun 10, 2008 10:40:59 GMT -5
Hmm hard to tell, doesn't sounds healthy though... the whitish part surprise me a bit, especially if its not dry... are you watering your VFT from the tray or right into the pot (from the top)?
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Post by muscipula on Jun 10, 2008 12:37:27 GMT -5
Either way (when i drain them once a week), and i mostly water them occasional from above as well when taken out of soaking tray.
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Post by Rick Hillier on Jun 10, 2008 12:54:03 GMT -5
What type of water are you using?
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Post by muscipula on Jun 13, 2008 10:38:27 GMT -5
well water rarely but mostly rain
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Post by lloyd on Jun 13, 2008 12:02:17 GMT -5
I've found that rain water (Collected directly in plastic containers = TDS 4) is not the same as "Roof Water" which at my house ranges from 11-28 TDS depending on how heavy the rain is.
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Post by Rick Hillier on Jun 13, 2008 13:16:14 GMT -5
I stay right away from roof water... I remember back at my old house, I started collecting it from the roof and the pitchers on many of my plants started opening in a deformed fashion. It looked like someone had taken a freshly opened pitcher and pinched it closed in the middle. All of the species did this at the same time where they had been growing for years normally.
I tested the water in the drum and found it to be quite alkaline (the pH was pushing 10.0).
I repotted everything and used distilled water from that point forward, but the plants took a year to recover and produce normal pitchers again.
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Post by lloyd on Jun 13, 2008 13:24:19 GMT -5
As I've mentioned before the pH of water with very low TDS (such as rainwater) is extremely sensitive and changeable. Really the pH would not be a helpful measurement when there is very little buffering capacity. Of greater interest would be impurities from the roof such as asphalt and tar residues and pollution. My roof is slate so the run-off shouldn't be too toxic. I've been distilling my roof water and the residue is a dark brown liquid, maybe from all the organic debris in the eaves.
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Post by muscipula on Jun 14, 2008 19:22:08 GMT -5
I've used a brook that runs near my house NEVER the roof! ?!
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Post by muscipula on Jun 14, 2008 19:23:55 GMT -5
i thought of brook water as "rainwater" sorry for the misconception.
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Post by lloyd on Jun 14, 2008 19:41:09 GMT -5
All water is rainwater. What we mean here is rainwater collected directly into a clean barrel, not from a roof. Even in dirty old Toronto my rainwater has a TDS of 4 which is pretty close to distilled. Water in a brook could have agricultural run-off and have a very high TDS and be toxic to sensitive plants.
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Post by brian on Jun 15, 2008 14:48:55 GMT -5
Roofs are covered in bird droppings plus squirrels, cats etc. When I test cisterns fed by downspouts they are loaded with e coli so count on high pH and excess nutrients
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Post by coldtearsp on Jun 24, 2008 10:47:47 GMT -5
oh my gosh, are you serious? I have been using roof water all along  !!! but what i did was I let the water run out for awhile until all the dirty stuffs were gone, then I got my reserve there. But in Toronto these days, it rains alot, so I can assume roofs might be quite clean. Am I right or wrong? |
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Post by mabudon on Jun 24, 2008 12:10:56 GMT -5
A few people have different theories on rainwater. I personally use it and have NO issues, and like coldtears I just wait til it runs clear (and with all the damn rain we have been getting that doesn't take long at all)
It certainly won't kill your plants instantly...
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Post by brian on Jun 24, 2008 14:59:08 GMT -5
No, I'm just saying think twice before you drink it!
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)
!!! but what i did was I let the water run out for awhile until all the dirty stuffs were gone, then I got my reserve there. But in Toronto these days, it rains alot, so I can assume roofs might be quite clean. Am I right or wrong? 
