Dear Bob, You seem to have hit the nail on the head (Carpenter -wise) with your plumbing suggestions. Bad roots usually means bad leaf tips. Too far from the water source to ‘prime' the ‘pump' and ‘pipes’ all the way to the leaf tips. And like you I have salt build up and pH changes due to hard water. Some plants need frequent ‘flushing’. Usually a summer outdoors gives them enough rain water flushing to last for a long time, but watch out. Pots get crusted with calcium deposits and need heavy cleaning and brushing before reuse. I’ll keep this hand plumbing vocabulary in mind for the future. Best Jim > On Jan 14, 2015, at 12:47 PM, penstemon <penstemon@Q.com> wrote: > >> Browning at the leaf tips is the first sign that what Jerry Morris (dwarf conifers) calls “the pump” is not working properly. The area farthest away from the roots, the leaf tips, is the first to show signs of inadequate hydration. > > One of the most startling things I read there was the necessity of flushing the potting mix (with water) from time to time to avoid salt build-up, and the effect salts have on root hydraulic conductivity. James Waddick 8871 NW Brostrom Rd Kansas City, MO 64152-2711 USA Phone 816-746-1949 _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.ibiblio.org http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/