GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post - Fast growing: CO2 (carbonic acid) uptake through roots?

23-06-2006, 04:13 PM posted to rec.gardens

wrote:
I have heard that plants can take up dissolved CO2 in water (carbonic
acid) by means of their roots. In other words if you water your plants
with sparkling water it should accelerate growing. Can somebody verify
that statement and maybe tell me which plants are especially suitable
for this? I'm especially interested in trees having this feature. How
much can the growing be accelerated?

Thank you in advance,

Lucas Jensen

I cannot say for "regular" plants but for aquarium plants increasing the
dissolved CO2 definitely boosts growth. You can purchase automatic
dosing systems from several makers that handle the job. Of course with
an aquarium one must balance out the needs of the fish and the plants
pretty carefully to keep from killing one or the other (although I've
managed to do both on occasion).

--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com