Marquis Hodes wrote: >Why are we putting charcoal into media in the first place? Is it being >done to "darken" at the >roots, to provide a "more natural" environment? (As if there were anything >inherently >"natural" about orchids growing in carbon-and-mineral-supplemented Japanese >jelly). >Or are we adding charcoal to act as a reservoir of substances that are >toxic to orchid roots in >high concentration in solution but are exhausted before inflask growth is >completed - so they leach >off the charcoal as the local concentration diminishes by incorporation >into the growing plant? >Or is charcoal simply, as Aaron implies, "magic" ;^)?
It appears to me that the use of activated charcoal has been found to enhance the growth of seeds and seedlings in flask, and since that time, people have been trying to work out why this should be so. They have therefore advanced various useful theories, none easy to prove. So, basically, we are putting in charcoal because it works. I like Aaron's "magic" explanation - it is almost as good as the rest. regards, greig russell "Valhalla", Osborne Lane, 7975 KOMMETJIE, Western Cape. (021) 783 3962 http://www.geocities.com/pennypoint9/ http://tygerorchids.itgo.com
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