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Encanto Farms Nursery > Topics > Probably Fluoride in my tap water, that is Killing my Cuttings.....
 
 


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armando93223

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Posted Reply with quote  #1 
I can't blame the Gnats on everything....LOL   I have been thinking that my cuttings and their roots are very sensitive to many things, including the tap water I am using. I will be trying water from my Mom's House it has a lot less fluoride. Will keep you posted, and Let me Know your thoughts...????
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Armando in the Heart of California
  
DesertDance

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Posted Reply with quote  #2 
We just got a whole house water softener, and I'm really careful to only use OUTSIDE water on my figs.  Our water district is the same one that provides water to all the Citrus Orchards and farms in the valley, so I think our OUTSIDE water is good.  Not sure what flouride does to plants,  but probably a google search would come up with something.

Suzi
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IamKriya

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Posted Reply with quote  #3 
I wonder if Fluoride does affect cuttings.  I know it damages one's thyroid.  Interesting topic!
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rcantor

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Posted Reply with quote  #4 
Mine do fine with fluoridated tap water.  Sorry, Armando.
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Galicia Negra, De La Reina - Pons, Genovese Nero - Rafed's, Sbayi, Souadi, Acciano, Any Rimada, Sodus Sicilian, any Bass, Pons or Axier fig, any great tasting fig.
FiggyFrank

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Posted Reply with quote  #5 
How far do they get, Armando?  Maybe we can offer help.
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Frank
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Gina

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Posted Reply with quote  #6 

When you hear hoof-beats, look for horses, not zebra.

If you are getting a lot of gnats, you likely are trying to root your cuttings in conditions that are too damp.
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BexleyRabbit

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Posted Reply with quote  #7 
if you let tap water stand overnight some of the additives dissipate
figgary

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Posted Reply with quote  #8 
The amount of chlorine may have an effect as well. Some areas have enough to be able to smell it in tap water, and it is toxic to plants. I'm lucky enough to have well water that goes through a reverse osmosis filter system, so no chlorine, fluoride, pharmaceuticals etc., and I have no problems with my rooted cuttings.
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Gary in CA 9A  Seeking: Bebera Branca*, Colonel Littman's Cross
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Posted Reply with quote  #9 
agree with gina. you need to find balance with water thing, or rooting will be a hard task.
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Pete
Durham, NC
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"don't talk to me about naval tradition. It's nothing but rum, sodomy and the lash." - sir winston churchill
"the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money." - the baroness thatcher

***** all my figs have FMV/FMD, in case you're wondering. *****
***** and... i don't sell things. what little i have will be posted here in winter for first come first serve base to be shared. no, i'm not a socialist...*****
armando93223

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Posted Reply with quote  #10 
Thanks for everyone's opinion. Will keep a close eye on my cuttings and see. Could be to much water. I try to water every 2 weeks, about 4oz into a 1 gallon pot.
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Armando in the Heart of California
  
Grasa

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Posted Reply with quote  #11 
I don't have that excuse Armando. I have  17 barrels of rain water in storage and being renewed each time it rains.  I also use the  cut bottle method, when they are in cups, that  recycles its own moist and takes only a spoon of water once in a white.  Could be your floride or something else. (when and how the cutting was taken, how it was stored, kind of tree, kind of cutting (fat, skinny near the base or the tip of the branch, from sucker?,  temperature, air circulation and many more factors. etc)- rooting currants and grapes are much easier than figs, that's a fact!
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Grasa
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armando93223

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Posted Reply with quote  #12 
Thanks Grasa, not sure what is the Cut Bottle Method. Will try to Root Grapes. Will check out Youtube on Grapes. Been seeing a lot of grapes hanging over walls in my community. 
Yes, their is a lot of factors, would like to get good at rooting, picked up a lot of good varieties in the last 6mos and want to have small trees for trade.
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Armando in the Heart of California
  
jdsfrance

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Posted Reply with quote  #13 
Hi Armando,
You could water with rain water or store the tap water in an open bucket for a week - that will lessen the chlorides - not sure for the fluorides - Fluorides are bad for human health - they say :( .
Here, some only drink water bought in stores in bottles - no tap water, as they don't trust, especially for babies.

As for grapes, if you can take cuttings now, just push them in the ground and water every two days, and they'll make it ! Watering and in ground is the key for grapes .
As for figs, winter growing is a challenge as for me here it is the opposite as what mother nature does. If you do it now, it will be more easier - For me it is in between the 1 april and 30 May that it is the most easy .
The cuttings will then be able to synch with the outside conditions and grow naturally outside with no hassle .
keep it positive - you neverthless had too many of them cuttings :)
I'm hoping for the 15 may to come soon - as I'm getting tired at having fig trees in my living-room and seing them not reach the two or three feet of height :( .
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bullet08

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Posted Reply with quote  #14 
Quote:
Originally Posted by armando93223
Thanks for everyone's opinion. Will keep a close eye on my cuttings and see. Could be to much water. I try to water every 2 weeks, about 4oz into a 1 gallon pot.


this is  how i water my 1 gal. i'm sure it's different for others. 

CA is lot different from NC. in NC, the day time temp is now going into 60 or so. but the night time temp is still below 40 mostly. in this condition, i keep my newly moved cuttings in 1 gal in the garage. i pre-wet the potting soil (50/50 perlite/MG seedling soil) and i don't water for about 1.5 weeks. 

i only water when the pot is very very light as if it has nothing in it, and the leaves are starting to look little droopy, or when i know the pot is getting over exposure to the sun and it's stressing due to heat. 

once they are outside with night temp at 50 or high, they get water about once a week. but not on my schedule, but when the trees need water. 

in late spring and early summer, the rate the water evaporate/used by the plant increases. but i still feel the weight and the way the leaves look to water them. 

the trees do not set time schedule as when they need water. you need to find out when they truly need water. 

young cuttings in 1 gal, when over watered can have some serious issues. 
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Pete
Durham, NC
Zone 7b

"don't talk to me about naval tradition. It's nothing but rum, sodomy and the lash." - sir winston churchill
"the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money." - the baroness thatcher

***** all my figs have FMV/FMD, in case you're wondering. *****
***** and... i don't sell things. what little i have will be posted here in winter for first come first serve base to be shared. no, i'm not a socialist...*****
Dieseler

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Posted Reply with quote  #15 
Fluoride in water ?
Bet you have nice white teeth!
bullet08

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Posted Reply with quote  #16 
smoke and tea overrides fluoride in our water source.. lol
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Pete
Durham, NC
Zone 7b

"don't talk to me about naval tradition. It's nothing but rum, sodomy and the lash." - sir winston churchill
"the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money." - the baroness thatcher

***** all my figs have FMV/FMD, in case you're wondering. *****
***** and... i don't sell things. what little i have will be posted here in winter for first come first serve base to be shared. no, i'm not a socialist...*****
tamarness

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Posted Reply with quote  #17 
I really can't help but think of Dr. Strangelove while reading this thread... good ol' General Jack D. Ripper :-)

"Do you realize that in addition to fluoridating water, why, there are studies underway to fluoridate salt, flour, fruit juices, soup, sugar, milk, ice cream? Ice cream, Mandrake? Children's ice cream!...You know when fluoridation began?...1946. 1946, Mandrake. How does that coincide with your post-war Commie conspiracy, huh? It's incredibly obvious, isn't it? A foreign substance is introduced into our precious bodily fluids without the knowledge of the individual, and certainly without any choice. That's the way your hard-core Commie works. I first became aware of it, Mandrake, during the physical act of love... Yes, a profound sense of fatigue, a feeling of emptiness followed. Luckily I — I was able to interpret these feelings correctly. Loss of essence. I can assure you it has not recurred, Mandrake. Women, er, women sense my power, and they seek the life essence. I do not avoid women, Mandrake...but I do deny them my essence."
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-- Tamar

Atlanta, GA

Attempting to grow: LSU Purple, Genoa White Honey, Kadota, Alma, Lyndhurst White, Adriatic JH, Desert King, Sal's, Salem Dark, Improved Celeste, Celeste, Marylane Seedless, Panachee, Marseilles Black VS, Sal's Corleone, Kalamata, 135-15s, Negronne, White Marseilles, Beer's Black, Norella, Monstrueuse, unknown cultivars... yeah, the list is too long to update anymore.
Aaron4USA

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Posted Reply with quote  #18 
Tamar... you hit a soft spot of mine with 1946 or even earlier idea if how they could make humans more docile and obeying by use of Fluoride. This substance has played a major role in altering the will of being independent. But... lets not get carried away from Armando's quest of blame to cutting failures.

Armando, not the Fluoride but I would think the Chlorine would make a bigger impact in failure of cutting rootings and growth. In addition, I think, it would help to add dash of liquid Vit B1 (from Home Depot) to the first watering of the rooted cuttings. You can repeat 3-4 waterings with Vit B1, it promotes root growth and gives the cuttings a very healthy start.
So, conclusion;-
preferably filtered water+Vitamin B1 for the first month=Great start

P.S, If you don't want Gnats just sprinkle some Cinnamon under the pots of the new planted rooted cuttings. It will keep most all pests and diseases away from the plant.
blueboy1977

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Posted Reply with quote  #19 
My municipal water authority quite using chlorine and started using chlorimine which doesn't evaporate so storing out doors does nothing to lessen that aspect of my water. This is why city water is Ph is so high and causes problems with all kinds of plants over time. Your best bet is to throw a drum under a down spout and collect some rain water. I like to call it life juice! I couldn't grow my blues with out it;)
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Rob
Zone 9a/9b were the too meet. South Houston Tx

Growing:  Black Madeira, Smith, LSU Scott's Black, Improved Celeste, VDB, MBvs, RDB, Unknown Peach/Apricot, Salce, Malta Black, Texas BA-1, JH Adriatic, Atreano, CDDN, CDDB, CDDG, Strawberry Verte
gwen

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Posted Reply with quote  #20 
For twenty years I have been rooting cut plants effectively. Last year I realized that all the plants that I rooted in tap water, sprang a few roots and then died a few days after. This has to be something new that they are putting in the tap water. My major concern is; what is this doing to our bodies? Something is in the water that was never used in the water before. It may eventually make us sick. Face the facts, it kills all the plants that I tried to root.. That never happened before
OttawanZ5

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Posted Reply with quote  #21 
Mine also do fine with fluoridated tap water.  City has changed from Chloride to Flouride and I have been using it for years.
I can blame Fungus Gnats for the damage for newly rooted plants that have less vigorous root growth. Those with fast root growth in 18oz or 32oz survive the gnats attacks.
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adipose

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Posted Reply with quote  #22 
I have a whole house filter and I do not use the outside water.  So far, no major problems.  That said, I sometimes wonder if I would have a higher success rate with some chlorine in there, but my first year 50% of my trees lived and grew to 4' or so.  I'm starting my second year and my cuttings are looking good.
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drew51

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Posted Reply with quote  #23 
Quote:
Originally Posted by blueboy1977
My municipal water authority quite using chlorine and started using chlorimine which doesn't evaporate so storing out doors does nothing to lessen that aspect of my water. This is why city water is Ph is so high and causes problems with all kinds of plants over time. Your best bet is to throw a drum under a down spout and collect some rain water. I like to call it life juice! I couldn't grow my blues with out it;)


I always thought the ph was high to stop erosion of pipes in water systems? That carbonates were used?
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Drew
Zone 5b/6a Sterling Heights MI
joann1536

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Posted Reply with quote  #24 
My municipal water has chloramine and fluoride added, and my figs do fine.  I even use tap water on my carnivorous plants, which are really sensitive, and they are doing fine, too.
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tennesseefig

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Posted Reply with quote  #25 
Try a Berkley water filter.
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Garlic_Mike

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Posted Reply with quote  #26 
Chlorine could affect the plant as noted not fluoride. Water filter, great idea. After a couple hours in an open container the chlorine will dissipate. Actually after bottled water has been opened for three hours or so, starts to develop bacteria at a faster rate. Supposedly most tap water, after the chlorine has dissipated is better than bottled water. This was from a new article several years ago in Ct. Water here is highly chlorinated, you can see the color in a tub. My only problems have been too much moisture, medium, and gnats, not the chlorine.
LJFiggy

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Posted Reply with quote  #27 
Big Berkey.. I love mine. I wouldn't drink unfiltered water, or give it to my pets or plants either. The city water here smells like chlorine and who knows what else is in it.
When possible, I also collect rainwater for all my houseplants, or those plants indoors for the winter, figuring that this would be best and most natural for them. I just put a bucket outside, and then it can be stored in plastic gallon containers.
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~New to growing figs, I currently have tiny fig plants which are supposedly Little Ruby, Violette de Bordeaux, Desert King, and Petite Negri. I hope these were accurately labeled!
Now rooting LSU Gold and Purple, Celeste, Panache, Peter's Honey, and Unknown Varieties from cuttings, thanks to generous forum members.

Figs on my current wish list (along with any others recommended):
Osborne Prolific, Battaglia Green, Smith, Kadota, Italian Honey, Atreano, Verte or Green Ischia, Panache, Peter's Honey, Black Madeira, Smith, Noir de Caromb, etc. ~
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