Re: turn pink hydrangeas blue?
- Subject: Re: turn pink hydrangeas blue?
- From: R* F* D*
- Date: Wed, 10 Oct 2001 22:26:37 -0400 (EDT)
At 07:35 PM 10/9/01 -0700, you wrote:
>someone I was interviewing the other day told me that she finds that
>the iron phosphate snail bait she puts in her yard turns her pink
>hydrangeas blue. Does that make sense?
>
>Nan
Nan:
I believe Moira is right. Color in hydrangea flowers is closely related to
soil pH, kind of like living litmus paper. Iron phosphate that is neutral
or basic is as insoluble as rock (Dufrenite is a basic ferric phosphate
found in limonite ore bodies - I'm not making the name up - this is from
Dana's Textbook of Mineralogy). It would have to be on the acidic side to
affect slugs.
Richard F. Dufresne
313 Spur Road
Greensboro, North Carolina 27406 USA
336-674-3105
World of Salvias: http://www.eclectasy.com/gallery_of_salvias/index.htm
Salvia email list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Salvia
