"Nikki Casali" wrote in message
...
Bill Stock wrote:

I bought some Cabomba a couple of weeks ago and it seemed to do OK at
first, but has been losing needles lately. I know the water was too
alkaline for it, but my CO2 regulator was delayed. I have the CO2 running
now and the PH is down to 7.5ish for now. I plan to go to 7, once I get a
PH controller. The soil is not the greatest either, plain aquarium gravel
(clown puke) with quite a bit of natural sediment. Everything else is
OK, light, Iron, N-P-K, etc.

So do you think the PH is the main issue? It does seem to look a little
better tonight, but that's somewhat subjective.

My water is liquid rock and I presume this is the reason why I can't grow
this plant. My pH will naturally rise beyond 8.2. But I now inject CO2 for
the plants and get the pH down to 7.25. The Cabomba still dies. The
lighting is 3 watts per gallon. Two things I can do is soften the water or
increase the lighting. Neither of which I'm prepared to do, so I avoid the
plant. Let me know if you find a solution!

Nikki


Thanks Nikki, another DOOMED plant.

I don't think I have Cabomba caroliniana , it think it's Cabomba furcáta (C.
piauhyensis). Which requires even more light, but likes warmer water.

It does seem to have stopped shedding for now. I'm hoping it will keep going
until I get the PH down to 7 and improve the soil.

What were you using for soil, Fluorite?