Hi Ross,

I wouldn't worry abt acidity at all. I've grown lots of succulents for 10+ yrs. indoors & pay not attention to this at all. In nature, many succulents grow in bad circumstances, crappy soil, mineral rocks, etc.; these are largely not fussy plants that require special care or exacting conditions.

Water temp. is another matter altogether. I always pay attention to this, I'd guess too cold water could shock the plants.

I typically let my water stand for days, have gotten in the habit of always refilling my watering jugs when I'm done watering, so I always have water which has been left standing for a few days at least before I water. This way whatever gases can escape do, & I never have to worry abt water temp.

As to yr. other questions elsewhere, if I were you, I'd do some basic reading abt succulents first before you buy many more plants. Things like B. diagremontiana are so common & regarded by some as such pests, that you could probably have been given some rather than buy it. I've got a bit of it I would have let you have for postage, just to get it out of here. I'd also pot yours much smaller than you've got it.

FYI: I think Phila. has a C&S Society, I seem to remember running into some of them at an annual event in NJ. You might want to check them out, nice friendly group, from whom you could probably learn a lot & reap some fun.

Welcome, I see you're pretty into this already.

There are certainly plants that will be very unhappy if you regularly water them with hard water. Most won't care. A good proportion of cacti and quite a few other succulents actually prefer hard water. A bigger problem with pot plants is that the minerals in the hard water will be left behind as water evaporates and eventually they will become concentrated to the point that they will harmful to almost any plant. Collecting rainwater is a simple way to avoid the problem completely.

Most people know when they have hard water, it tastes different, it creates a scum when combined with soap, and it leaves a lot of limescale on boilers, kettles, and even pans. If all your neighbours have water softeners your minicipal supply is probably hard water. Avoid using chemically softened water on your plants, it is worse than the hard water you started with!

Thanks so much for your answers!!
Hi Pirate Girl. Thanks for the offer, I wish I had known that they were that much of a pest plant. Your right about me being into these plants!! I have been spending numerous hours every night reading, lol.

I actually got myself a little library of books for the holidays:
Cacti: The Illustrated Dictionary - Rod & Ken Preston
Succulents: The Illustrated Dictionary - Sajeva & Costanzo
Succulents 2: The Illustrated Dictionary - Sajeva & Costanzo
Caudiciform & Pachycaul Succulents - Gordon Rowley
The Genus Conophytum - Steven Hammer (my mom gave this one to me)

These next two are where I got most of my info from, besides the internet.
The World Encyclopedia of Cacti & Succulents - Miles Anderson
The Complete Book of Cacti & Succulents - Terry Hewitt (this is the book that got me hooked on the Bryophyllum Kalanchoe's. There is a picture of a Kalanchoe tubiflora which made my mouth drop to the floor. I just had to have one, which has become many, I ordered more last night on Ebay, I couldn't help myself, LOL.

If you know of any good books, please recommend them to me, I will definitly check them out!

And also Hello Shrubs-n-Bulbs. Thanks for the info on hard water. I don't think our water is very hard because we don't get any scum with the soap or limescale build-up. I will probably get it check tho at a pool store near me when they open in the spring.

Thanks again!!

Ross

Hi Ross,

I'm concerned about water quality as well. We have unsoftened well water where we live. While most minerals won't hurt the plants, I do worry about the calcium. There's tons of it in our water!! I've been doing some reading...though not as much as you, by the looks of it :) and trying to find a way to minimize the effects of calcium. Between that and my own personal observations, there are a couple of things that you might find helpful:
1) keep your plants in clay pots if they are not already. I've been noticing a white mineral crust develops over time on my clay pots...this leads me to believe that the clay absorbs some of the calcium.
2) Re-pot with fresh soil annually. For certain plant varieties that don't like to be disturbed that often, you could try scooping out some of the old soil periodically and topping up with fresh soil.

I read about the peat-in-pantyhose trick as well, but I've never tried it. Seems like too much effort :)

My husband got me 3 plant books for Christmas...I've read them all cover to cover already!! The one I found most helpful is called The Houseplant Enclyclopedia by Ingrid Jantra and Ursula Kruger.

Hi Davesgirlalways..
I used to get that build-up on the pots at the place I lived previously. So far I havn't seen any build-up on any of the pots. Besides the succulents, we have Orchids, ferns, and some various other house plants.

Once I start watering again in the summer, I will pay more attention to see if any mineral build-up is occuring. I'll probably also go to my old job (a pet store chain in the area) and use some of their kits to test some different levels.

Thanks again

Ross

Ross,
I'm new to gardening but I have read somewhere that an easy way to acidify the water was to mix 1ml of vinegar to 1l of water. I've been doing that to my schlumbergera and it is doing fine so far.

Hi Ross,

As per the water issue here's what I do - when the forcast is for a big rainstorm, I put a bucket on a table outside to collect it. Rainwater is naturally acidic. Think acid rain.

I also add a piece of lava rock briquette (look for it at home depot in the barbeque section). I grow cacti and pachy seedlings and a crassula argentea.

When it comes time for feeding, I add a little plant food to the water - a friend calls it 'magic water'.

As far as books are concerned -download Rainbow Bookshops online catalog and go to town.

Sagebrush