Date: Fri, 29 Aug 1997 02:07:27 -0400 From: Derek Glidden <dglidden@geocities.com> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg3282$foo@default> Subject: Re: Baking Soda treatment
Firstly -- I have met Randy on a couple of occasions, and seen a few of
his plants. Yes, they are very colorful and seem to be none the worse
for the baking soda treatments. However, personally I would not try
this unless I had a couple extra plants to spare for a test. But, at
least, he's not pulling anyone's leg, he really does this to his plants
(or at least he says he really does), he's a real person, etc.
Secondly -- I'm curious if anyone has ever tried to grow plants in
"plain old potting soil" that's neither particularly acidic nor base nor
anything other than whatver "normal" soil is. I'm curious as to the
rationality behind Randy's applications of baking soda and why it seems
to enhance the colors in his plants. (It does. Deleterious effects? I
dunno -- I haven't seen enough of his plants for a long enough period of
time. But the few I've seen do seem to be very colorful and seemingly
healthy.) Perhaps some species of CP may actually thrive in higher PH
soils than they are naturally found. In my original comment about this,
I had said "Maybe the reason they're in nutrient-poor, acidic soils is
because it's the best job they could get?" Maybe it's not such a joke.
If anyone has a "spare plant" (I know, it's probably unlikely that
anyone has TOO MANY of any CP.) then try planting in a pot of potting
soil that you'd stick your Pothos or Geranium or whatever and see if it
thrives or dies.
A theory is that maybe some species of CP have developed their
particular behaviour, not necessarily because they can *only* thrive in
nutrient-poor, acidic soil, but that their adaptations, perhaps, allow
them to thrive in nutrient-poor acidic soil where other plants cannot.
Plain-old "survival of the fittest" would push them out of areas in
which other plants work better, and leave them alive in areas in which
other plants die.
Is there an exact reason why they not thrive just as well, if not
possibly better, in a "standard" medium with a corresponding lack of
competition? The best way *I* can think to test this theory is to grow
some plants in a pot filled from a bag labeled "Potting Soil" rather
than some combination of peat, sphagnum, sand, etc, and see if they
thrive or die. I would try myself, but, as is probably most common - I
can still count the number of species that I feel to actually be
"thriving" in my collection on one hand ...
I am, to some extent, playing Devil's Advocate, but I also would like to
at least sort of stand up beside Randy and at least say he's not trying
to actively get anyone to kill their plants -- it's worked for him, at
least to some extent, even if I wouldn't suggest anyone else try his
techniques on their one-of-a-kind favorite.
[Disclaimer: I am not a scientist, nor do I play one on TV. Neither do
I actually know that much about organic chemistry, nor botany, nor even
astrophysics. I do, however, grow a couple dozen species of CP, and a
few are actually growing well under my care, as are several dozen other
types of plants. And I could probably hold my own in a discussion on
cosmology...]
-- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Derek Glidden http://www.illusionary.com Illusionary.com Home of the Pagan Resource Site Web development, database, graphics and general plumbing Linux, FreeBSD, Apache, MySQL, PostgreSQL, PHP (Say No to NT!)
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