Hi all,
cheers Darrel
Not all plants can use HCO3-, so those ones will only be able to assimilate CO2 below pH7.What I was trying to ask was this - at pH = 6.5, would a given plant absorb CO2 and HCO3- equally as this mix is roughly 50:50?
There is an energetic penalty to using HCO3-, with plants that naturally grow in alkaline water they have to able to use HCO3-, because they never get DIC in any other form.If not, what is the most efficient way of getting carbon into this plant?
I think that most plants don't really care, some definitely grow best at low dKH, and others (like Vallisneria) don't do well in soft water (low dGH/dKH), but I don't know the exact mechanism.And, if Plant X cannot absorb carbon efficiently, is the simplest answer to replace it with a different plant that prefers pH less than 7.0 and soft water?
cheers Darrel