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Re: Laterite availability. Tropical soils in Texas?



>Subject: Re: Laterite availability. Tropical soils in Texas?
>
>The recent concern over continued availability of Dupla laterite, 
>and the note from Australia
>concerning tropical soils in Northwest Territory there, make me 
>wonder whether anyone has tried
>good old "Texas gumbo". This is a very heavy, clay soil common 
>on the gulf coast. Our climate
>certainly rivals the tropical, though our winters are colder. 
>The stuff certainly supports lush
>plant growth, as anyone who has had to wade through the bayou 
>and marsh country will attest.

I'm sure you could use Texas gumbo in your aquarium, but it's properties
would be somewhat different from laterite.  The black gumbo where I live is
built up from grasslands resting on top of limestone bedrock.  It contains
a pretty high percentage of CaCO3, and is very hard on acid-loving plants
like azaleas.

David W. Webb           Enterprise Computing
Texas Instruments Inc.  Dallas, TX USA
(972) 575-3443 (voice)  MSGID:       DAWB
(972) 575-4853 (fax)    Internet:    dwebb at ti_com
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