Re: water (by "Paul Murphy")

From: Nigel Hurneyman (nhurneym@uk.oracle.com)
Date: Wed Jan 05 2000 - 09:19:37 PST


Date: Wed, 05 Jan 2000 17:19:37 +0000
From: Nigel Hurneyman <nhurneym@uk.oracle.com>
To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com
Message-Id: <aabcdefg31$foo@default>
Subject: Re: water (by "Paul Murphy")

Regarding the use of sulphuric acid, it may not alter the quantity of
salts in water, but various literature I've seen (sorry, no references
so this can be taken as anecdotal) suggests that the sulphates somehow
mask the salts preventing their uptake by plants. Adrian Slack
reportedly (another anecdote) watered his plants for a several months
on tap water treated with sulphuric acid without any ill effects. I
don't know how hard his tap water was to start with or whether he
repotted his plants at the end of that time.

Regarding alternatives to sulphuric acid, how would you rate citric
acid? It is readily available from the home-brewing counter in many
shops, although it seems to have a limited shelf life.

Regards,

NigelH



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