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Old 08-23-2013, 06:05 PM   #14 (permalink)
hilarleo
 
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Default Re: Help! Is this cold damage?

Hababananaman also brings up the important topic of water.
All gardeners should be well informed about their water quality. Over the last two decades the federal government has been working hard to standardize end-user water "quality" in terms of measurable chlorine compounds coming from the user's tap. EPA guidelines require that tap water at any faucet contain a minimal concentration of 0.2 ppm chlorine, and stringently limits the concentration of bacteria, spores, etc. We're told this is all good.

This is being effected in public drinking-water delivery systems via recent introductions of longer-lasting "chloramine" compounds replacing simpler chlorine gas compounds. The water thus produced is potentially more toxic to pathogens- yet equally damaging to our beneficial microbes. Consider the bedrock of the terrestrial food chain, the mycorrhizae. These are rootlet-associated fungi upon which most plants are dependent for assimilating minerals. Plants cannot thrive without healthy mycorrhizae communities.
Whether the overall resulting water is 'safer' for plants depends if a balance of healthy microbials survives and flourishes through periods of wet media.

Crucially, chloramines do not 'evaporate' out of our water like chlorine did.
Personally I've found tap water is now like a joker in the deck- anything might happen. Lately I find plants do better when my efforts are devoted to conserving all the available moisture present in soil, using more- & more varied mulches-- while using substantially less tap water.
In commerce this technique is labelled "Dry Farming", and the results in food quality have long been renowned.
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