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By Alan Montour with Kit & Ben Knotts
Photos by Alan Montour - Click to enlarge

12/27/2002

SET BACK! The "melt" has paid me and my Victorias a visit!

Since my last update, the 'Atlantis' leaf at the right began to change its color and I franticly emailed Kit. I discovered, performing a general hardness test, that the water had become very hard. I had forgotten to perform a weekly 25% water change. With Kit's advice I proceeded immediately to make this change. I will NEVER forget again and now do a water hardness test every day. Since this event the affected plant has put forth the beginning of a third floating leaf (now #2). Also as a result of this assault I have lost one very weak "Atlantis" seedling completely.

The image at the left is a 'Longwood Hybrid' leaf and with what also appears to be "melting". The advance of this melt has halted since the water change. A second Longwood seedling was also affected and has since lost one floating leaf. It has been replaced by another and yet another leaf has started. It is curious to me that the attacks have all been on first floating leaves. Could this be a part of the natural growth cycle?

We don't think so. As others grow, older leaves will deteriorate but the melt causes premature loss. It will attack later leaves too. Those from the fourth or fifth on are not as sensitive.

Kit also asked me if I was feeding my Victorias "weakly weekly" as it would help their growth to stay ahead of the "melt" and maybe overcome it.

Our point here is that the plants need to move right along in their growth and a strongly growing plant has a better chance of surviving the various possible problems. The endosperm in the seed seems to provide enough nutrient for the filiform and hastates but some supplementation is necessary from the first floating leaf onward. Too much will burn the leaves and too little will allow them to stall.

As for feeding, I had been feeding them 0.5ml of Aquatic Plant Stimulant weekly.

Analysis:
Boron 0.00018%
Copper 0.00045%
Iron 0.063%
Manganese 0.00046%
Molybdenum 0.0000072%
Zinc 0.00046%

Kit's advice was, "This has no N-P-K, which they need. It may substitute for the other ingredients in our cocktail but you need a little Pondtabb too. Maybe you can figure out the ratio from the basic cocktail recipes. They REALLY need the nitrogen. That's why we use the IronGreen -- it has N to supplement the N in Pondtabb."

	I have dissolved 1/4 of a full Pondtabb in 2 quarts of water and injected 5ml into the soil or sand. And my Victorias are thanking me with new vigorous growth and good color. I am happy again :>)
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