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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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
Post replies to newsgroup.

"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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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
Post replies to newsgroup.

"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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I wouldn't worry about the salt and mineral build up on the surface of the
compost, if it's unsightly, scrape off the top inch and apply some new
compost.

I suspect that you may be over watering it, or it's not getting enough
natural light. Rosemary is native to dry, sunny areas like the
Mediterranean. As such they like a dry soil in a sunny position, so you
should try to mimic this environment when growing indoors. Try to reduce the
amount you water, only giving it more when the top of the compost dries out.

Do the pots have saucers under them to catch water? Is the pot sitting in
water? If so tip this excess water away and allow the plant to dry out a
bit.

HTH

Nick
http://www.ukgardening.co.uk

"Nick Gray" wrote in message
...

"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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I wouldn't worry about the salt and mineral build up on the surface of the
compost, if it's unsightly, scrape off the top inch and apply some new
compost.

I suspect that you may be over watering it, or it's not getting enough
natural light. Rosemary is native to dry, sunny areas like the
Mediterranean. As such they like a dry soil in a sunny position, so you
should try to mimic this environment when growing indoors. Try to reduce
the
amount you water, only giving it more when the top of the compost dries
out.

Light is one of the problems here. It's been incessantly cloudy, and even
though the plants are in the best window in the house, it's still not
enough. I'm considering a plant light, but at the same time, I'm trying to
keep the utility bills down.


Do the pots have saucers under them to catch water? Is the pot sitting in
water? If so tip this excess water away and allow the plant to dry out a
bit.

They've needed very little water, but when they do, they're always watered
in the sink, on a grating for drainage, without the saucers of course.

"Doug Kanter" wrote:
Light is one of the problems here. It's been incessantly
cloudy, and even though the plants are in the best window
in the house, it's still not enough. I'm considering a plant
light, but at the same time, I'm trying to keep the utility bills
down.

What about redirecting light to it with a mirror? I think mirrors
are pretty cheap at Wally World.

--
Jim Carlock
Post replies to newsgroup.

"Jim Carlock" wrote in message
m...
"Doug Kanter" wrote:
Light is one of the problems here. It's been incessantly
cloudy, and even though the plants are in the best window
in the house, it's still not enough. I'm considering a plant
light, but at the same time, I'm trying to keep the utility bills
down.

What about redirecting light to it with a mirror? I think mirrors
are pretty cheap at Wally World.

--
Jim Carlock
Post replies to newsgroup.

Interesting thought, but clunky. I'll be setting up the fluorescent lights
for seedlings in about 6 weeks, but maybe I'll set up just one fixture (two
40w tubes) sooner. I refuse to lose this rosemary!

"Doug Kanter" wrote:
Light is one of the problems here. It's been incessantly
cloudy, and even though the plants are in the best window
in the house, it's still not enough. I'm considering a plant
light, but at the same time, I'm trying to keep the utility bills
down.

Flourescent lighting uses very little wattage so electrical costs of
having such lights is low. If you add one or two four foot full-spectrum
flourescent over your plants, that'll be as beneficial as a "grow light,"
but the full spectrum is healthier for humans &amp not as annoying as the
blue glow of a Grow Light; the full-spectrums are nice to live, read, &
work by. A full spectrum light makes good overall light for the whole
room, so you could leave off a couple of the other lights if price of
electricity is a question. Since the other lights in the room are apt to
be incadescent using three or four times the electricity per bulb, you'll
actually be SAVING electricity to use a full spectrum tubes. Full-spectrum
flourescents take many years to burn out, but should even so be changed
each spring because it looses its full spectrum of light as it ages &
becomes more blinky & no loner ideal human lighting, but changed annually
it's way closer to natural light & reportedly even helpful for "winter
blues" that afflicts people getting too little sunlight. There are also
full-spectrum incadescent bulbs but they wouldn't save electricity, though
you could put them in a floor lamp & aim that at your plants as a stop-gap
method of getting them more light during overcast days & short-day
winters.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
Visit the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com

"Doug Kanter" wrote in
:

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.

true, true, true, true, but cough http://tinyurl.com/3vau4 cough

(paghat) wrote in
news
"Doug Kanter" wrote:
Light is one of the problems here. It's been incessantly
cloudy, and even though the plants are in the best window
in the house, it's still not enough. I'm considering a plant
light, but at the same time, I'm trying to keep the utility bills
down.

Flourescent lighting uses very little wattage so electrical costs of

snip

Anybody use relatively new CFL reflector type flood lights? I guess most
are around 18 W, 950 lumens ... don't know how that compares to total
output of 4' tubes, but it should be easier to direct the output and
should not need any special fixture(?). I have some of the newer mini-
twist CFL bulbs (13W, ~800 lumens) and the only complaint is although
they are instant-on, they don't reach full brightness immediately when
the air temperature is low (say 65 F). Probably half dead rosemary will
not complain as much.

"Jim Carlock" wrote in
m:

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.

A water distillation apparatus (which is surely well over 100 years older
than the genetics class mentioned) relies on the boiling point of water
to separate it from solutes, or to say in plain English, crap, of higher
boiling point. The vapor is diverted to a separate area where it
condenses. The solutes (crap) largely remain at the bottom of the heated
area and the pure water plus anything else that managed to hitch a ride
is collected at an exit location. A typical coffee maker (and I'm not
talking about J.P. Moneybag's Ka-ching Distilling Coffee Maker), boils
water forcing it up a tube to the drip area, but does nothing to divert
pure water vapor to a separate location and solutes (crap) can remain in
liquid solution although if you have hard water, some of it will
precipitate out and form scale around the heating element as the water
boils away.

Salt on Soil (grasping at straws)

It's always my people who are the scapegoats.

"Salty Thumb" wrote in message
newst4ud.3318$N%6.1832@trnddc05...
"Doug Kanter" wrote in
:

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.

true, true, true, true, but cough http://tinyurl.com/3vau4 cough

That explains everything.

"Doug Kanter" wrote in
:


"Salty Thumb" wrote in message
newst4ud.3318$N%6.1832@trnddc05...
"Doug Kanter" wrote in
:

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.

true, true, true, true, but cough http://tinyurl.com/3vau4 cough

That explains everything.

I think you will find that although distilled water is more volatile*
(talking about propensity to become vapor) than your tap water, the
difference is neglibile for gardening and most other purposes.

Water is an excellent solvent but to observe a difference in
corrosiveness between distilled and tap water I guess you would need
some cartoonish hyperbole. If anything, your tap water will have non-
neutral pH and so be more likely to eat through things although you may
still need time dilation or Elmer Fudd to see a difference.

Somewhere, you can actually buy distilled water in distilled water-proof
gallon jugs which some people actually drink as if it were regular water.
8^@ So either you're thinking of something other than distilled water or
there is a definition of distilled water that I'm not familar with.

* I thought about it some more, and maybe this is or isn't true. There
is a high school chemistry experiment where you raise the boiling point
of water by adding various soluable solids. I would expect something
similar would happen to a much less measurable degree when you add tap
water residue (not sure about gases) to distilled water, but who knows?
I don't know why volatility is even a concern.

"Salty Thumb" wrote in message
news:CG%ud.2821$Z%1.43@trnddc03...
"Doug Kanter" wrote in
:


"Salty Thumb" wrote in message
newst4ud.3318$N%6.1832@trnddc05...
"Doug Kanter" wrote in
:

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.

true, true, true, true, but cough http://tinyurl.com/3vau4 cough

That explains everything.

I think you will find that although distilled water is more volatile*
(talking about propensity to become vapor) than your tap water, the
difference is neglibile for gardening and most other purposes.

Water is an excellent solvent but to observe a difference in
corrosiveness between distilled and tap water I guess you would need
some cartoonish hyperbole. If anything, your tap water will have non-
neutral pH and so be more likely to eat through things although you may
still need time dilation or Elmer Fudd to see a difference.

Somewhere, you can actually buy distilled water in distilled water-proof
gallon jugs which some people actually drink as if it were regular water.
8^@ So either you're thinking of something other than distilled water or
there is a definition of distilled water that I'm not familar with.

* I thought about it some more, and maybe this is or isn't true. There
is a high school chemistry experiment where you raise the boiling point
of water by adding various soluable solids. I would expect something
similar would happen to a much less measurable degree when you add tap
water residue (not sure about gases) to distilled water, but who knows?
I don't know why volatility is even a concern.

I don't know why it's a concern, either. I'm just throwing ideas around and
seeing which floats the longest.