Jim, you're as mixed up as I am!

Boiling water will kill microorganisms, but it will concentrate whatever
else it contains. That's why chefs will simmer meat or fish stock if the
flavor needs to be concentrated further. Distilled water was a thought, but
I believe it's actually more volatile than your typical tap water. It'll eat
through things, so I don't want to use it on plants.


"Jim Carlock" wrote in message
m...
I know just about as much as you do. I know nothing about the
minerals in city water. I know most places put flourine as well
as chlorine in the water. And then alot of stuff comes off the
pipes that the water is traveling through. I wonder what grows
upon the inside of water pipes.

I know I'm not helping anything and I'm making things more
confusing but I'll continue anyways, because sometimes a
lightbulb lights up...

Now if there is a small hole in a water pipe somewhere on
the way to your residence... Okay okay, I'll stay off that
topic, because it really does confuse the issue.

What about creating a distillation deal? I don't know the
full details about this, but somewhere in a Genetics class a
full century ago, a wise man indicated that pure water could
be obtained by heating the water to a boiling temperature,
and I always suspected that that was untrue, but maybe it
became pure enough to be classified as pure? I think a
coffee pot does this.

Furthermore, the United States army trains people stuck in
the desert to pee into... I forgot the details but the basic
idea is to use a piece of clear plastic as an umbrella over a
cantine and as water rises to the plastic, condesation and
gravity forces the water to the middle point of the plastic,
the plastic being soft and pliable bends whereby the middle
of it becomes the heaviest and it drips into a cantine or what
not, ready to be drank. I think the coffee pot is your best
friend in this case. I think it'll remove the heavier minerals
and thus the mineral problem disappears.

The Genetics professor claimed that he had 200 proof
alcohol. And he also claimed that it left no hangovers. He
laughed when we asked him how he knew that.

--
Jim Carlock
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"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
I've got 3 Rosemary plants in pots, indoors. I fully expect them to drop
dead sometime soon, even though I read the recent thread in which many of
you contributed good ideas. Two reasons for my pessimism, one
comical/imaginary (maybe), and the other....who knows?

1) The plants are on a table right near where my son drops his sneakers
when
he comes into the house. I can't prove it, but I think this could be
contributing to the plants' demise. I can smell those sneakers across the
room. I can't imagine how the plants must be suffering.

2) The important issue: Along with all the other things that make Rosemary
unhappy indoors, there's quite a bit of crust on the soil's surface. Built
up minerals from tap water, obviously. I always age the water for a couple
of days before using it, although this addresses the chlorine issue. We
won't have especially hard water here - the water authority data says
we're
sort of in the middle. But still, I wonder if that the buildup is bad for
the plants, especially when they're already having a bad time.

There hasn't been enough rain or snow to collect, and who knows what's in
it
anyway, considering what it does to lakes and ponds and trout. So, I
decided
to use only water that's been through the Brita filter. See what I mean
about grasping for straws? The filter's not designed to remove minerals.
But, I figured...I don't know. Couldn't hurt, right? OK. It's pointless.

Yesterday, I poured 4 jugs of water through one of the pots, which got it
nice & clean. Of course, this was done at the risk of making the soil too
wet for a plant that's lost 2/3 of it's leaves in 6 weeks. Now the roots
will rot. I could move the plant to a smaller pot while it's indoors, but
that risks stressing the thing even MORE.

Anyone know anything about mineral crust on potting soil?
HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!