Re: VFT problem solved

Wayne Forrester (forrestr@mendel.Berkeley.EDU)
Tue, 25 Jul 1995 14:19:35 -0700 (PDT)

> Dio
> > Sounds like odd distilled water to me. What are other people's ideas?
>
> Richard
>
> > There was no white powder in the soil so it wasn't the carbonate.
> > These were tiny white crystals which I am pretty sure were salt.
> > It was a 4 inch pot. I only usd the Aquafina brand water for
> > 2 1/2 weeks and for about a month I used distilled water. I thought
> > the distilled water would purify the soil which is why I was
> > beginning tothink that maybe it was the distilled water.
> >

If it was really distilled water it's unlikely to have caused the buildup
of crystals. One problem I've encountered is confusing labeling. I was
using something called purified drinking water. It was distilled and
charcoal filtered, which should be perfect-no salt or organics left in
the water after that treatment. However, what I didn't notice because I
didn't read the fine print carefully enough was that they then added
various salts back to the water to improve the taste. I now use just
plain distilled water. Is it possible that the crystals were present when
you bought the plant? If not, presumably it must be from teh Aquafina
water, or your distilled water isn't really distilled becasue
distillation should remove virtually all salts.
Wayne Forrester