Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Bulbs => Ian Young's Bulb Log - Feedback Forum => Topic started by: annew on January 01, 2010, 10:47:50 AM
-
Many, many thanks for another year of excellent bulb logs, Ian - I always learn from them, or find something to think about.
For instance, it seems very strange to me that you use the method you do (which obviously gives the right results) of tipping a pile of powdered potash (potassium sulphate?) on the top of your pots. It looks so harsh, and seems to go against what you say about not harming the micro-organisms. Is it because it is relatively insoluble and so the concentration of the solution in the compost remains low?
I hope you don't lose any bulbs, or at least not your favourites! If I can help to restock any losses, I will be happy to, just let me know.
-
Many, thanks for another year of excellent bulb logs, Ian - I always learn from them, or find something to think about.
Thank you Anne; making people think is the biggest compliment that you can pay me.
I have always been a thinker puzzling over anything and everything since I was a kid.
In fact I was the annoying kid that always asked why, what for,what if, etc.
When no answers were forth coming I decided at an early age that I would have to work them out for myself.
Writing the Bulb Log for seven years has made me think and analyse what I am doing even more than I would normally.
I too am puzzled why the potash powder works so well and apparently does no harm. I can speculate that there are three possible reasons or a combination of them all.
1- That the potassium sulphate is not harmful to these organisms. We should remember that not all chemicals are harmful and not everything organic is beneficial
2- By adding it late in the growth cycle it does not have a harmful effect.
3- The fact that potassium also boosts the plants immune system counteracts any loss of the beneficial fungus and bacteria.
If I knew of or had an organic source of Potassium I would trial it.
Thank you also for the kind offer to restock but some of the bulbs there are not replaceable as they were some of my own selected seedlings. They may survive and if they don't I will quickly fill the space with all the pots of seedlings that are coming on but I will remember your kind offer.
-
Ian - many thanks for another year's logs - a magnificent resource for us all - and a key reason why this site is such a success. Now..... how about that book....... :D :D :D.......
-
Ian - many thanks for another year's logs - a magnificent resource for us all - and a key reason why this site is such a success. Now..... how about that book....... :D :D :D.......
Seconded! Come on Ian get the pen going, we need that book ;D
-
Over 20 years ago in his 'Varieties List' Paul Christian recommended adding potassium sulphate once or twice after flowering. His only precautionary note was to keep it off the leaves.
-
Seconded! Come on Ian get the pen going, we need that book
Ian - many thanks for another year's logs - a magnificent resource for us all - and a key reason why this site is such a success. Now..... how about that book....... :D :D :D.......
Thanks Ian for your last log of 2009, really enjoyable and I find them really helpful, looking forward to all your 2010 logs.
David that's a great idea, but would Ian ever find the spare time , I suppose he could write it whilst he is sitting in the sauna.
Angie :)
-
I have a problem with the bulb log. When I click on the current version Firefox crashes and I get a message telling me that it has encountered a problem.
This has been happening for months. I even removed Adobe reader to see if this made a difference and installed another pdf reader but nothing has changed.. Any ideas?
-
Could it be the software version? I run Firefox 3.0.16 on Mozilla /5.0 and have no problems opening the bulb log.
-
I have a problem with the bulb log. When I click on the current version Firefox crashes and I get a message telling me that it has encountered a problem.
This has been happening for months. I even removed Adobe reader to see if this made a difference and installed another pdf reader but nothing has changed.. Any ideas?
Tom - I vaguely remember some time ago having problems with PDFs with Firefox on a Mac. Do you have the latest version, 3.5.6? This works perfectly with me.
-
I have a problem with the bulb log. When I click on the current version Firefox crashes and I get a message telling me that it has encountered a problem.
This has been happening for months. I even removed Adobe reader to see if this made a difference and installed another pdf reader but nothing has changed.. Any ideas?
I use firefox all the time and have no problems, I can only think that you have a corrupt program or a conflict between programs Tom.
Certainly installing the latest versions will help.
If you google the bulb log by number google gives the option to open it as HTML.
Edit
I have just tried that and it only shows the text - not a lot of good.
-
It's a Firefox problem. This happens on both Windows XP and Vista. When I use Internet Explorer I can download the full postings. My Firefox is the latest version but it was doing this with previous versions. I also get crashes when I use a hyperlink. It looks as if the only way round this is to re-install XP and Vista. Not a happy thought as I have 200Gb. of pictures and some videos which would have to be input.
-
Many, many thanks for another year of excellent bulb logs, Ian - I always learn from them, or find something to think about.
Me also ----------- thanks Ian and a happy new year
-
It's a Firefox problem. This happens on both Windows XP and Vista. When I use Internet Explorer I can download the full postings. My Firefox is the latest version but it was doing this with previous versions. I also get crashes when I use a hyperlink. It looks as if the only way round this is to re-install XP and Vista. Not a happy thought as I have 200Gb. of pictures and some videos which would have to be input.
There is a comment here:
http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Firefox+crashes+when+trying+to+download+a+file
A reinstall can leave your documents intact and all it's going to do is clear registry entries or remove problem files (which you could do by hand much quicker).
FF + XP works OK for me.
-
Ian, the anticipation as one clicks the link to download your latest Bulb Log is full of suspense.....then the reality as one browses through is so satisfying and enjoyable with wonderful photos and words that never preach only guide in a way that makes one appreciate successes or failures and enjoy the love of growing things and finding the way to make them happy. Thank you for your diary records and inspiration to try better in 2010. :)
-
I too am puzzled why the potash powder works so well and apparently does no harm. I can speculate that there are three possible reasons or a combination of them all.
1- That the potassium sulphate is not harmful to these organisms. We should remember that not all chemicals are harmful and not everything organic is beneficial
2- By adding it late in the growth cycle it does not have a harmful effect.
3- The fact that potassium also boosts the plants immune system counteracts any loss of the beneficial fungus and bacteria.
If I knew of or had an organic source of Potassium I would trial it.
Banana skins?
http://jds.fass.org/cgi/reprint/32/11/969.pdf
-
By jove, Helen.... that's interesting... of course, the potassium content in the fruit is one of the reasons why tennis players are always chomping them during their matches, isn't it?
Most interesting..... he'll have to start from scratch though.... I draw the line at recovering the ones already in the municipal foodwaste bin for composting. :P
-
I too am puzzled why the potash powder works so well and apparently does no harm. I can speculate that there are three possible reasons or a combination of them all.
1- That the potassium sulphate is not harmful to these organisms. We should remember that not all chemicals are harmful and not everything organic is beneficial
2- By adding it late in the growth cycle it does not have a harmful effect.
3- The fact that potassium also boosts the plants immune system counteracts any loss of the beneficial fungus and bacteria.
If I knew of or had an organic source of Potassium I would trial it.
Banana skins?
http://jds.fass.org/cgi/reprint/32/11/969.pdf
Indeed. Long ago when I looked after tropicals in office towers we always dropped squares of banana peels in the watery throats of the bromeliads. I had completely forgotten about that. Oftentimes we'd take them with us and forget about them in our pockets until the next day - >:(
The bromeliads never looked better and flowered like mad. (not a shred of evidence to prove it was the peel)
johnw
-
Errr, strictly speaking, potash is KCl, not potassium sulphate (unless the term potash is being used very loosely?)
Potash is mined on a huge scale in the neighboring province of Saskatchewan, from the Devonian Prairie Evaporite Formation, for plant fertilizer. I'm not sure why the concept of "organic" (albeit, an artificial term, but in the sense it seems to be meant) would not apply to naturally-occurring minerals (which are however in the other sense of the word, inorganic)... ?
-
By jove, Helen.... that's interesting... of course, the potassium content in the fruit is one of the reasons why tennis players are always chomping them during their matches, isn't it?
Most interesting..... he'll have to start from scratch though.... I draw the line at recovering the ones already in the municipal foodwaste bin for composting. :P
Maggi, I used to chomp on bananas when I was playing lots of tennis. The Potassium is supposed to help prevent cramps.
We bought a dehydrater a few months ago to dry our chillies, maybe I should try some banana skins. :)