Re: [APD] Water soluble micros needs low pH?

["S. Hieber" <shieber at yahoo_com>]

I never heard of anyone going to extremes with pH just to add ferts, but I have heard of many successful aquatic gardeners. I'd say that whatever the logic in the article, if it leads to requiring a pH of 4 to add ferts, then I think it needs to be reconciled with thousand upon thousands of counterexamples.
 
Light alone will beak down chelators but I don't go into a dark room to mix ferts. Also note that, if minerals are not chelated, that doens't mean they disappear, just that the plants have to work a little harder -- but they are so pampered in our tanks (notwithstanding the fact that we are "drowning" of them) what's a little work?

Have plants, have fun, and don't go the numbers drive you nuts ;-)
Scott H.
 
* * * * * * * * * * * It's new; it's fun; it's the New England Aquatic Plant Society NEAPS, is a newly formed organization interested in aquarium flora and fauna. http://www.ne-aquaticplants.com/ 


----- Original Message ----
From: Nick Ternes <woodland_gardens at gmail.com>
To: aquatic plants digest <aquatic-plants at actwin_com>
Sent: Thursday, February 02, 2006 10:05:29 AM
Subject: Re: [APD] Water soluble micros needs low pH?


Without looking it up, I'd say this isn't true.  Water with a pH of 4-5
isn't easy to come by.  Even RO/DI/Distilled should be neutral, 7.0.  We use
chelated iron on a regular basis in the horticulture industry.  Our water at
work is something like 1300ppm hardness pH 7.8-8.0.  The chelated iron works
just fine for us.

As an aside, on terrestrial plants nutrient overdose can have the same
symptoms as nutrient deficiency.  If you're dosing so much iron per week and
seeing deficiency symptoms that weren't there before, it's probably because
you're overdosing.

Aquatic plants and terrestrial plants work differently, so maybe I'm wrong.
I'm sure we'll hear from someone else who knows better.  I'm just a
horticulturist who likes to keep things in glass boxes. :)

Nick Ternes
Port Washington, WI
WAKO
AKA

On 2/2/06, Daniel Larsson <defdac at hotmail_com> wrote:
>
> I've come across a Swedish reference on the subject
> of how one should mix water soluble micronutrients
> (like CSM+B). It says the chelates are rendered useless
> if one try to mix water soluble micronutrients with
> ordinary tapwater. The chelates breaks down before
> they become useful if the water pH is above 4-5.
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