I know this is an old thread, but in case anyone is searching on this topic... I've noticed that my plants love it when it rains, they are perky and refreshed in a way that I don't see after watering or fertilizing. I decided to simulate rainwater by adjusting my tap water pH down from 7.4 to 5.5. My adjusted pH is somewhere in the 5.0-6.0 range due to small dosing inaccuracies. I acidify my water using sulfuric acid @ ~32% concentration (battery acid 1.28 mol). I've been using it with tablespoons as well as 1CC droppers and have no issues whatsoever. The acid is pretty safe to use if you take some basic precautions and aren't sloppy about it. Even so, it's not that strong of a concentration to do any real harm as long as you're close to a hose and don't get any in your eyes. Wear glasses just in case. My plants absolutely LOVE the lower pH water. They look perky and refreshed just like they do after a rainstorm. There are other beneficial effects as well. My seeds appear to be sprouting much faster than usual, the compost clumps that are sitting atop my soil have started to seriously break down finally, and my soil retains more moisture than it did before switching to lower pH water w/ sulfuric acid. Bottom line: My plants like it and I have noticed only positive effects. I will continue watering them with acidified water.

There is a company dealing in biocontrols in New Hampshire. They weren't located close to me, but the package got here fast. I can't remember whether the price included an overnight shipment or was a 2-day delivery, but anyway, the delivery was fast. Nematodes do better if kept cold and they came in a very thick styrofoam box with an icepack inside; they were still chilled upon arrival. That company does carry other benefical organisms too, so I'm planning to go back to them for anything else along those lines that I want to order. I've tried to post that business name and website address, but have been blocked with a message saying that this forum has been spammed by them. I seriously doubt that. They are a reputable company, and you ought to be able to find them through searching at Google as if you were trying to buy beneficial nematodes in the state of New Hampshire. Best wishes, Mary

eloise has the best advice... Here in California, we have a wealth of innovative retail nurseries that specialize in special plants. Use those as your first source of things exotic and different. Then check out some mailorder companies. Californians don't have the same "mailorder plant culture" as do people "back east". Tell us exactly where you are and you'll get plenty of responses for souorces within an hour's driving range of you. MAIL ORDER SEED COMPANIES Bountiful Gardens 18001 Shafer Ranch Road Willets, CA Direct Seed Co. 3303 Harbor Blvd., Suite E-7 Costa Mesa, CA J.L. Hudson, Seedsman Star Route 2, Box 337 La Honda, CA Redwood City Seed Company P.O. Box 361 Redwood City, CA Seedhunt P.O. Box 96 Freedom, CA MAIL ORDER ROSE COMPANIES Amity Heritage Roses P.O. Box 357 Hydesville, CA Arena Rose Company 525 Pine Street Paso Robles, CA Greenmantle Nursery 3010 Etteersburg Road Garberville, CA Heirloom Garden Roses 24062 NE Riverside Drive NE St. Paul, OR Mendocino Heirloom Roses P.O. Box 670 Mendocino, CA Michael's Premier Roses 9759 Elder Creek Road Sacramento, CA Petaluma Rose Company P.O. Box 750953 Petaluma, CA Sequoia Nursery, Moore Mini Roses 2519 E. Noble Ave. Visalia, CA Vintage Gardens Antique Roses 2833 Old Gravenstein Hwy. S. Sebastopol, CA MAIL ORDER BULB COMPANIES Anthony J. Skittone Bulb Co. 1415 Eucalyptus Drive San Francisco, CA Far West Bulb Farm 14499 Lower Colfax Road Grass Valley, CA Flowers and Greens 35717 Lasiandra Lane Davis, CA Fogbelt Growers 5096 Dows Prairie Road McKinleyville, CA Jim Duggan Flower Nursery 1452 Santa Fe Drive Encinitas, CA M & C Willetts P.O. Box 446 Moss Landing, CA MAIL ORDER PLANT SPECIALISTS AnnieÂs Annuals Market, n. of Rumrill Richmond, CA Canyon Creek Nursery 3527 Dry Creek Road Oroville, CA Chalk Hill Nursery P.O. Box 1847 Healdsburg, CA Collector's Nursery 16804 Northeast 102nd Ave. Battle Ground, WA Cordon Bleu Farms 418 Buena Creek Road San Marcos, CA Forestfarms 990 Tetherow Road Williams, OR Goodwin Creek Gardens P.O. Box 83 Williams, OR Heronswood Nursery 7530 NE 288th Street Kingston, WA Kartuz Greenhouses 1408 Sunset Drive Vista, CA Rare Exotics.com 11610 Addison Street North Hollywood, CA River Rock Nursery 19251 SE Hwy 224 Clackamas, OR Siskyou Rare Plant Nursery 2825 Cummings Road Medford, OR World Plants (Trans-Pacific Nursery) 20110 Canyon Road Sheridan, OR Joe

Yeah, this will never happen. But, not for the reasons you think. The sort of land elk need is now protected. Not for the beneficial ecological / environmental purposes, they have been prioritized for mega solar companies. Albany has put a target on the backs of Hudson Valley areas like Greene & Ulster Counties, specifically to clear cut vital habitat, forests, meadows, farmland and so on to make room for industrial scale solar farms that render the earth, dead, useless at the end of their roughly 25 year life-span. That's the future of NY State as long as Albany law-makers have their way.