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Re:- Roots all over the place



> From: "Alysoun McLaughlin" <alysoun.mclaughlin at ncsl_org>
> Subject: Roots all over the place
>
	(lots snipped) 
> 
> CM> Figure out where your nutrients are coming from first.  If the liquid
> CM> fertilizer is the source, don't stop using it.  If the substrate is the
> CM> source, you can stop fertilizing (or just slow it down).  The
> determining
> CM> factor here should be the nutrient levels available to the plants.  If
> CM> you've setup your substrate like Karen Randall, Steve Pushak and others
> CM> like them with soil nutrients, you'll only want to add specific
> nutrients
> CM> required in the water column (K, CO2, etc), which you may be able to do
> CM> without liquid fertilizer (water changes, CO2 injection).
> 
> CM> If you're setup like George Booth, Paul Sears and others like them with
> CM> absorbing, but nutrient-poor substrates, you'll need to add a
> comprehensive
> CM> fertilizer on a regular basis to maintain the balance of nutrients.
> Both
> CM> methods are valid, both methods can get fantastic results. The first is
> CM> lower effort and maybe more expensive up front.  The second is
> CM> measurable, precise and expensive in the long run.

	I'm a bit baffled by this.  My total expenditure on fertilisers is
about $35 CDN, for trace elements, and the supply will last many years.
I was lucky in that I got some of the stuff when it was thrown out of the
lab where I work, but even if I had paid for it, it would have added only
a few dollars to the total.  I also spent about $200 CDN on a CO2 cylinder
and regulator.  It is still supplying CO2, without a refill, over 3 years
later.  What I'm doing has almost nothing in common with the Dupla method,
used so successfully by G.B..  I don't use laterite in substrates, and
just about all the fertilisers go in in solution form.  With Dupla, the 
drops are a _part_ of the system.  G.B. published analyses a while ago -
if you can find them, have a look and see which parts of the system contain
significant amounts of which elements.


-- 
Paul Sears        Ottawa, Canada