How to water trees on land without access to tap water?
Soumil Yarlagadda
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Tap Water - How do you deal with chloramine
Comments (7)Firstly, that organic mix you described sounds horrible in regards to drainage, so I suspect you were having some issues because of that. Also, a soil like that would not allow too much air into the root zone, which is another problem. As for your 5-1-1 mix, I don't want to steal Al's thunder here, but you're going to have to describe your mix, to make sure you've got the right particle size and such. Also, you have to describe your fertilizing routine, including what kind, how much you use, and how often. Also, in my experiences, if you let your mix dry out too much, it will turn hydrophobic, and actually repel your watering attempts. The top will appear wet, but dig an inch down, and it's bone dry. I seriously doubt the problem is pH or chloramine. Also, wherever you heard that organic growing will make your tomatoes taste best, was likely a biased source. Many people grow organically for other reasons, but in my experience, taste is not effected. Also, save the organics for regular gardens, not containers. Organics and containers go together like mouse & snake, it appears ok for a little while, then at some point, things go sour. Joe...See MoreWatering sentitive plants with tap water.
Comments (24)Congratulations Gary, you discovered sliced bread Twice, no less! This is exactly how they grow in nature and I grow most of mine the same way. My Cattleya types are all mounted. This does not mean they are hanging on branches, it means the roots are exposed to air like the plant you described. 1) The classical mount, a tree branch. Stick the plant on it and never touch it again. I have some who have been on the same mount approaching 15 years and may well resemble the plants you saw. 2) Wooden or plastic basket. Difference between growing them ON a basket rather than IN a basket is that my plants are growing in EMPTY baskets. Works exactly like the tree branch except the wood has been rearrange to look like a basket. Again, once there, I never touch them again, may put the whole thing in a larger basket when it's time or just let them ramble on. 3) Plastic or clay pots. Mounting plants on our conventional plastic pots only requires you to refrain yourself from adding bark or coconut. Put the plant in a small pot without medium. Often I add a few large rocks, 1 1/2" to 2" size to stabilize it and give the pot substance to keep it from falling over. When the plant rambles over the edge, drop everything into the next size pot, also empty. The roots will fill all available space. I have a huge BLC which was last potted in 1988 by the previous owner which is about 2' x 2' x 1' in size. After 25 year, I suspect the bark in the 6" pot it's in, is probably slightly deteriorated but who cares. All of the above plants grow similar to what you are describing and cannot be over-watered. Never need to be repotted and offer a painless, satisfying and somewhat effortless way to grow them. During the heat of the summer, they need to be watered more often, once a week does not work for them. I usually water them every 2 to 3 days unless we get into the 90s in which case I water them every day. Tap water is all they ever get with a little fertilizer added every time. I do have a potting bench, but almost all of my epiphytes never need repotting. A variety of plants, Bulbos, cloud forest plants, terrestrials and a few others do better the conventional way and need to get repotted as the sphagnum moss deteriorates. Stanopeas, Lycaste, Angola for example, also don't like the empty pot treatment, they are in something. In the end, the best medium to plant most epiphytes in is air, that's what their growth media is in nature and you cannot go wrong with it. It also never deteriorates and you don't need to repot. We are so brainwashed that plants need to be in a pot with their roots covered with something, we don't give that method a chance. It works extremely well. Nick...See MoreIdeas for how to bury a garden hose/improve water access
Comments (4)e, A two foot sidewalk would be an easy DIY job. The idea of an irrigation line in a sleeve is a good one in case you have to replace the line at a later date. Also make the sleeve a 2" pvc pipe or bigger so that you can slide controller wire through as well as your pipe. The details are that you have to dig a good size hole on one side. The method can be dry or wet. They make a special nozzle for digging and flushing on a metal pipe and you have a second person to de-water the hole while you are digging under the walkway. The second method should work the best and that is to use a heavy short pole oor pry bar and chisel out the dirt under the side walk. It is like digging a post hole but sideways. 2 feet is not far to do this and less messy. Make sure the pvc sleeve extends past the sidewalk a couple inches. If you want to be more structural sound, you duct tape the ends and plug both ends with an opening spout on one side that you can pour runny grout and it will flow around the sleeve and solidify in a few hours. There you have it, a crossing under your sidewalk. Aloha...See Moreair tap retrofit hot water tank heatpump water heater
Comments (4)I put one in last year, and according to my kill-a-watt meter, we're paying less than $10 a month for hot water even at our summer electricity pricing, which is 22 cents/kw. That said, the heart of the technology is basically the same as a $99 window air-conditioner, and the new units are made in China - so who knows what the durability will be. I paid $699 shipped, but apparently, these units were selling for $499 before the tax credit was announced, and it looks like the price was recently jacked to $799... The quality seems decent, but it does have a "buzzy" sound when it's running that would be really annoying if you had it near a sleeping or living area. The install was super-easy for me - I used a new AOSmith 50-gallon electric water heater as the tank (I hooked up the power supply to the standard heater, but turned off the breaker, so I can use the standard elements if the Airtap fails) Would I do it again? - MEH..I dunno - playing around with the pricing to steal the tax credit seems kind of sleazy, the warranty is really ambiguous - to qualify for the tax credit they had to offer a five-year warranty I believe, but their website now says two years - the new integrated units from GE and Rheem have ten years of coverage, and they have the benefit of being able to use both the heat pump and standard electric elements to give you super-fast recovery if you have guests over, or a huge garden tub to fill. A quick Ebay search shows the competitors are around $1500~ish, but if you haven't taken the tax credit yet, you could snag $500 in government cheese and nullify the cost difference with a better warranty. The technology is an excellent idea, and when the competition drives pricing to where it really belongs - (Until then... meh... Certainly it can pencil out, but the energy-saving payoff exceeds the warranty which makes me nervous. Solar really isn't any better, and tankless seems to be snake-oil when you look for real savings data, but to each his own......See MoreSoumil Yarlagadda
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