A billion is just not enough!
True a billion is not actually much anymore....especially in the USA!
But I have no intention to say it a trillion times.
A billion is just not enough!
True a billion is not actually much anymore....especially in the USA!
But I have no intention to say it a trillion times.
I'm not the expert on TDS, I'll leave that discussion to those more qualified. But, I do agree that the issue is more to do with dissolved O2. I think paphs can be really wet, IF they are seriously oxygenated at the roots. I wonder if a "scree" type system, like the ones used by rock gardeners, would work. Constantly wet, but constantly flowing. Sitting paphs in standing water for more than 24-36 hours will invite lots of root rot. On the other hand, I think the reason that phrags like standing water is that their roots seem to be much more tolerant of anaerobic media. I can't believe the number of neglected phrags I've repotted after many years whose mix was just stinky muck, yet the roots were still good and the plants themselves still healthy and growing.
All true but the other important point is the supressiveness of certain materials. I had another look at the info in my book. It states that some materials can give 3 years of complete freedom from parasitic fungi attack when added to mixes in as small a quantity as 10%. Some of these include some but not all composted and aged eucalypt barks and other hardwood barks. The suppressiveness of
pine bark is exausted in about 2 months. Thats a huge difference! I think I read some data done in the US on the web but I don't remember the tree sp. that produced similar results. ( a quick search should find it ) The suppression is directly related to the on-going decomposition and the maturity of the material. Apparently the older the better. But any old (several years) organic material (what paphs grow in) will give some measure of control. Those with access to an old growth forest, could gather some old humus from under the leaf litter, screen out the fines and add 10% of that to your mix?
Ok here is some data on this subject
http://www.globalsciencebooks.info/JournalsSup/images/Sample/DSDP_5(SI2)1-11o.pdf
I agree. Thats why I never use sphag in the mix and why I melt slits in the sides of the pot. Otherwize the only access to air is from the top and bottom of the container and if its in water, only the top.
http://www.slippertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27348
Don't forget this thread started by ChrisFL on perspectives of watering.
Yup
At what point are we talking wet potted organics versus mounted plants on a piece of bark hosed down on a daily basis?
Thats not the way to look at it. 3000 divided by 356 = 8.2mm of water each day. Now lets assume they get most of the rain for half the year = 16.4mm of water for each pot to get your 3mt of water per year. You dont have to supply all the empty spaces in your greenhouse to achieve 3mt of water per plant per year.
When I water I usually dip the pots (small pots) in a bucket of water maybe twice maybe three times. Take an average small pot say 70mm deep, every dunk gives it 70mm of water. Thats way more than they get in the habitat.
Its much the same when I use the hose, they get at least the pot volume of water. For a 6'' pot that could be 7 or 8 inches of water every day or two. Tons more water than the plants get (in rainfall) If I gave my plants 16.4mm of water they would not do well. Natural plants don't grow in pots--or you could say their ''pot'' is the entire moutainside-- so with their free root run, they have a continuous supply of water and everything else.
Just a thought about water oxygen content: the solubility of O2 in water only varies by about 10% over the temperature range we're likely to grow our plants, and will likely saturate quickly in any setup.
I don't understand your question
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