Hi all, I was going to post a qestion about the effects of all this rain here in the northeast. At the time of this post it is raining again. Most plants seem stunted and light green, which got me reading the books (Rodale). It seems that the rain may have washed most if not all nitrogen out. Calcium and magnesium also leach away. Pulverized lime is cheap today yet so I dusted every plant late in the day. I mean all including potatoes, lettus, amaranth, cabbage, brocoli, peppers, peas, beans, onions, ect.. Everything took a leap in appearance for the better. Greener and just plain better looking. As urine is endorsed here, I saved a milk jug of the liguid, cut it 50.50 with saved rain water and tried it on the brocoli. Success, so saved up some more, you can easily get 1 gal. a day, and donated it to the the balance of the plants. It works. Dear other does not know. In short try a dusting of lime followed a day or so later with some nitrogen whatever the source. You add the lime first I am told by some farmers. Anyway it works. Best regards to all.

That wouldn't be a problem with AC. First the charcoal is not harmful to bacteria or anything else that is alive in the water. In fact bacteria will sometimes use the surface of the AC as a colonizing location as it does any surface in the pond. The AC does not release toxins into the water. It does not affect algae or particulates. It functions by attracting and trapping gas molecules on it's surface in a chemical reaction called adsorption. Once it has been completely covered by those molecules it stops working and must be refreshed or replaced. You should figure out where the discoloration in the water is coming from. Stains, discoloration and odors come from the breakdown of organic materials and the release of tannic acid or tannin into the water. Sources can be mulm, fish poo, excess food, dead plant material especially oak leaves and acorns and peat moss among other things. Pebbles on the bottom trap these and make the problem worse as the debris rots. Potting soil is a prime culprit. Do not use standard potting soil for pond plants. Free floating debris in the water is a particulate. It can also produce brown water. It is controlled through an efficient mechanical filtration system.It can be any of the things that cause stains in the water or other things entirely. AC does not control particulates. Mechanical filtration does not control stains and odors. All the AC you could add would not clear the water if you have material in the water that is actively rotting. To determine if you have stains, particulates or both fill a glass container with pond water and allow it to sit undisturbed for a couple of hours. Stain will remain diffused throughout the water, particulates will float or sink.

While looking into midge chemical cures, I found disturbing information on merit and bees... sigh. I found this info in the American rose Annual from 1918 on the treatment of midge at the time by Mr. Koch in Humboldt Park gardens in Chicago. I don't know where I'd get a load of tobacco stems, (ha), but I thought this organic treatment was interesting. "He found many of the plants affected with mildew and stem- blight, and, in 1911, rose midge had been introduced with new plants in the three principal parks. Hybrid Perpetuals and Gruss an Teplitz were found particularly susceptible to attacks of the midge. After considerable experimental work, Mr. Koch adopted mulching four inches deep with tobacco stems. It is applied after the first summer hoeing, about mid-June, and spaded under after frost in autumn. Where the mulch becomes thinned or shifted in the course of the summer, additional appUcations are made. This, he found, prevents hibernation of the pest. Last summer but few larvae and few injuries were found. For the greater security of other varieties, it was found necessary to remove Gruss an Teplitz from Douglas Park entirely in 1915." Any thoughts, my knowledgeable friends?

I would put in some more friendly bedding. I put in some organic home made compost with the news paper and card baord. THey really like old wet cardbaord. having some soil in there helps. Where they came from probably had compost, soil or at least worm castings all over, so the new moist news print might seem like a foriegn place to them. you could put soil or compost in just half of your worm bin and see if they like it. Egg shells crushed up very fine and boil some leaves and put them in there too. News paper or any thing natural is hard to break down with out any soil in it or with out much worm castings in there. Once the soil is mixed in with paper, cardbaord or leaves ist will start to break down and end up as food stuff for the creatures in the bin and the worms too. The creatures are bacteria and stuff we cannot see. Newly wet news print is not food instantly, it is only a place to hide for now. BUt in time it will break down and get slimey or decompose and become food. Good luck BIll C