the house water tested and the pH came back at 9.2. I spoke
to someone in
the water treatment office and he didn't think that the water
would affect
the plants because the soil would quickly change the pH of
the water.


I've been away (and all my plants have mutated to octupuses in 5
days!) so don't know what else has been said in this thread.

However, the fellow in your water office probably was right for
plants that are growing in the ground. He was NOT right for
bonsai. If you use something like turface in your mix that is
going to give your soil a fairly high pH reading anyway, and it
will have little or no buffering effect on the soil your trees
grow in. Add some well-cured horse/goat/cow/llama/chicken manure
compost to your soil. Add sphagnum moss, or COARSE peat.

Other suggestions about adding vinegar or lemon juice to your
water may have some merit. I've never heard of drinking water
with that high a pH. Use at least a 20-20-20 (acid) fertilizer.

Do NOT try to grow azaleas or blueberries.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - The phrase
'sustainable growth' is an oxymoron. - Stephen Viederman

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