I am also a little bit disappointed this thread ended up discussing lean vs EI yet again. We have many other threads about it.
What I think would be more interesting would be discussing if plants have legitimate requirements for or preferences for certain parameters.
To stay on topic for this thread, KH and maybe GH values.
Requirements would be a fairly strict range of parameters a plant requires, while preferences are just that, something the plant prefers but can still grow outside of.
I think we could allow for a little more
shades of gray in our hobby when it comes to this.
Some of the worlds foremost plant experts like Christel seems to think plants have requirements/preferences.
For terrestrial plants, it is widely accepted that different plants like different things, just like
@dw1305 's orchid vs tomato example.
I dont really understand why some are so convinced aquatic plants are completely different, and that preferences should be entirely disregarded or declared to be a myth.
This strikes me as really wishful thinking.
Some species of plants seem to have escaped the wishful thinking and most agree that they require certain parameters, species like Tonina, Syngonanthus etc.
Rotala wallichii is maybe not so lucky. I think a picture of wallichii in high kh water showing more than 50% of the stems stunted is not the best example to disprove "myths".
And as usual, there are some outliers, just to make our lives more fun (/interesting/difficult)
I think newbies (not talking about
@KirstyF here) freaking out about their tap water can safely be told that most plants will grow just fine, except for some highly specialized species.
But for those of us who are a bit past the starting stage, I wish we could tolerate a bit of middle ground / shades of gray plants without starting to declare things myths.
I dont think one size will ever fit all
