HELP - Unresolved

[North Lincs Mike]

Hello everyone,
A few weeks ago I posted a query on the Forum about some apparent hard water staining on a smooth echinopsis plant.I received help from a Forum member saying use vinegar - this was promply countered, helpfully, by someone else saying vinegar may damage the plant. just try and wipe it with rainwater.
Well the rainwater does not work and I've even tried meths assuming this won't hurt the plant as it is used to treat mealy bugs. So I still have a stained plant and wonder if anyone else has any ideas. I cannot believe no one else has had this problem - can you help me please.

[youngie]

Can you send a picture showing this "Staining"

[Maria J]

I'm sorry about suggesting the vinegar, I am pleased that I was put right quickly! I had no idea it would be harmful...

Going along the same lines (ie mild acid), could lemon juice be used??
Anyone out there know if it would be harmful to the plant??

[iann]

Might have been me suggesting caution. Sufficiently dilute vinegar would not be any more harmful than rainwater but there is a point where strong enough vinegar would certainly damage the plant. Somewhere in between is something strong enough to remove limescale and weak enough not to damage the plant. I would like to see the marks.

[North Lincs Mike]

Hello Ian and John.
Wish I knew how to add a picture. I've taken a couple which have come out well but cannot figure out how to get them off Kodak Easyshare onto this site - sorry - unless you can help me.
Mike

[Krister]

Hi,
I can think of one method, if you take lemonacid, used when cooking jam. I don't know if it's called so in english. Her in Sweden it's bought as coarse flour. Make a solution of this, mix in rainwater. I can't remember the mixing ratio, but I think it was one bag, 100 g, to 1 litre of water. Then spray it on, wait 5 to 10 minutes ,shower with clean rainwater.
Dont stay in the sun and the plant shouldn't be warm, just so the lemonacid mix dont evaporate. This should fix your problem, and its not harmfull for the plant. You can repeat the procedure if not all disappear.

God luck

[North Lincs Mike]

Hi Iann and Maria,
Yippee - you were both right - the dilute vinegar is working. I think the marking will all disappear with a couple more gentle applications. Hope the judge at Spalding show on Saturday does not mind plants smelling of vinegar.
Thanks for the help.
Mike

[North Lincs Mike]

Hello Krister,
Thanks for your help. I think the problem has been solved by Iann and Maria. How do your plants survive the cold winters in Sweden? Do you have a greenhouse? I have happy memories of marshalling at a Swedish Grand Prix in Anderstorpe in about 1975.
Best wishes
Mike

[Krister]

Hi, now you have two methods to get rid of the stains.
This year with no rain and full sun one don't have rainwater to use. Now we have bought 3 tanks at 1000 l each for collecting rainwater, when it comes.
This year we built one more greenhouse close to the other one, it's now in all 100 m?. The old one was 25 m?. In the old one we had between 7.5 and 8.5 ? C. Normaly it don't cost a lot to warm up, but this year it was a long cold winter here, but we allso got a summer, and its not finnished yet.

We live far south in Sweden almost by the bridge to Copenhagen. Most winters we don't have so cold as this year, and it dont last that long. It's aroun 0 to 8 ? C most winter, with som weeks of lower temp. Our problem when having cacti and succulent outside in winter is the rain. We don't get a lot, but its so wet all the time and such plant dont like that.