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

wrote in message
oups.com...
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?

I can't imagine it would produce any significant differences. in growth
rates, in using carbonated water vs. municipal water.

The dissolved carbon dioxide in the water quickly bubbles out of the
solution, this is accelerated when smaller bubbles can form on a rough
surface, such as an ice cube, salt crystals or soil. So pouring carbonated
water on the ground would cause it to quickly foam up, and escape. The
small amount of CO2 and carbonic acid that remains dissolved in the water,
is so insignificant, it wouldn't matter.

Fortunately a hypothesis of "does carbonated water accelerate plant growth?"
is easy to test. Take 3 small pots, fill them with soil and 2 sweet peas.
Mark the pots as "seltzer", "flat" and "tap", then water all 3 of them with
equal amounts of seltzer water, flat seltzer water and tap water. After a
month you should have enough evidence to suggest if there is a difference or
not.

Let us know what the results of this experiment is.

-S

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

"John McGaw" wrote in message
...

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).


CO2 systems for aquariums are a different game. They provide a steady stream
of CO2 from a yeast pile or a compressed air tank. Watering with carbonated
water isn't likely to have the same effect.

-S

Carbonic acid is mentioned he
http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT2003/shigo/CHEM.html

and here for starters:
http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT2003/shigo/RHIZO.html

Sincerely,

John A. Keslick, Jr.
Beware of so-called TREE EXPERTS who do not understand TREE BIOLOGY!
www.treedictionary.com

http://mercury.ccil.org/~treeman/
Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us
that we are not the boss.
Some people will buy products they do not understand and not buy books that
will give them understanding.
wrote in message
oups.com...
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