>The level of fluoride does not seem to be excessive, especially if >the water is alkaline. See http://www.schundler.com/florides.htm for >more information. Adding calcium helps if the fluoride level is high. > >The amount of chlorine is negligible. It is a myth, often repeated, >that chlorinated water is bad for orchids. I surmise that this comes >from the perception that chlorination is an artificial process and >anything artificial is bad. It is a practice of many excellent >growers to spray their growing areas with 1 or 2% chlorine bleach, >inevitably getting some on the plants. I did this regularly when I >grew in a greenhouse. No ill effects. Some growers tell me that >they actually spray their plants with 1% bleach to combat rot. > >Likewise sodium at this level is not a problem. When I grew in a >greenhouse the sodium level started out at 15 ppm (mg/l) in 1981, and >reached 37 ppm in 2000. I started to see leaf tip burn in some thin >leafed orchids in 1990. Of course this does not mean that sodium was >the cause. BTW, sea water contains about 33,000 ppm sodium. > >In his studies of the effect of salinity on Phalaenopsis hybrids, >Yin-Tung Wang found that much higher concentrations of sodium were >not detrimental. See http://primera.tamu.edu/orchids/paper3pg1.htm > >Of course hybrid Phalaenopsis are not thin leafed orchids. In a >private communication to me he indicated that high levels of calcium >help overcome the effects of sodium. > >pH is another issue. The EPA recommends raising the pH of municipal >water to about 8 (if memory serves me correctly). This reduces the >amount of dissolved lead and copper in drinking water. At least one >overzealous community that I know of raised it to 9.3. They used >potassium hydroxide, though I am told that many communities use soda >ash. A pH of 9 can cause problems in absorption of trace minerals. >So, Charles, what is your pH? > >In short, I don't believe that the quality of your water is the cause >of the deterioration of your mounted plants. > >Mounted plants dry out more quickly than those in pots, and low >humidity could aggravate this. Perhaps watering the mounts more >often would help, as would placing a pad of sphagnum moss around the >roots. Try misting them at least once a day. > >Martin >
Hello Martin, Thanks for both the new info you sent today and the info you provided again included in your last posting to me. I was most concerned about the sodium levels. I tried looking over the water quality tests a few times to try and find what their target pH levels were where they discuss the additives they use to try and prevent leaching of pipes, solder etc, but it wasn't present. I don't have a pH meter yet but will take a sample to work tomorrow. It turns out that the water at work is the same provided to the village of oriskany, and since the tds levels here match at work, I'll assume for tonight that the pH is probably the same. We've had it tested and the pH usually never goes below 8, so assuming that ours here is also 8, though a test will show. Many of my mounted plants do have a small pad of sphagnum, though I had been told that many of the chinese phal species would resent this treatment. My humidity does often get pretty low, despite efforts to keep it higher, group plants much more closely together plastic around the carts and the like. Quite a few of the roots on my phal taenialis plants have died back though at one time the roots were growing like crazy. Other plants that I had in lightly placed sphagnum in around roots in pots the roots above the sphagnum would die back, but under the sphagnum would look fine. I'll try misting more, and more watering of calcium nitrate on the mounted plants. I may even have some of those mystery mites that you don't see until later one (flat mites?). One thing that may point to the humidity issue is that I moved my phal parishii to an aquarium and I removed some of the moss around the outside of the roots. I found a long flower spike that had grown down into the moss, and was perfectly healthy and had buds on it which are getting larger now. The first spike I saw a few weeks back was growing quickly but the buds yellowed on formation, then the spike yellowed and died back quickly as well. Maybe I just don't mist with clear water and get a mini injector and get the calcium/pH issue taken care of, as that was an issue we had at work as well, when we would spot water seedlings (annuals perennials in plug trays) with clear water the pH would drop in some and disease would emerge from the other problems with incompatible pH/plants, and it would leach out nutrients in some cases since the water was so 'empty'. Another observation question: when the newest roots on an orchid, in this case phal species, that are the latest ones to come out of the plant, sort of stop growing and get a very crusty white look to them, is that a reaction to pH or over-drying from low humidity or something else? This happened on both potted and small mounted plants. thanks again for your help, charles _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
