Howdy,

I am working on the Diatom algae BarrReport Newsletter as well speak, I'd hoped to have the fertilizer test done, but we are missing some reagents for the N and P test at the lab

So by the time they come in, it'll be mid June.

I have harvested the ADA soils comparison test plants. The plants are being dried and will be weighed on Weds and Thurs.

I have raised 4 stems per pot of Myriophyllum spicatum (Eurasian milfoil) in a continuous flow through system for 4 weeks is several soil sediment types.
I used 5 replicates so a total of 4 stems x 5 pots per soil type.

1.ADA Aqua soil amazonia
2. Delta soil
3. Tahoe Soil
4. Soil Master Select
5. Sand and garden soil at the 3:1 mix

Pot size: 1 liter/20cm depth

Just looking at things so far, the SMS appeared to do the best. I did not expect nor predicted that, but I have not weighed things yet. Delta soil did well, better than sand:garden soil and better than the Tahoe soil. ADA did something in the middle. There was not that much variation between the visual growth.

Around the latter half of June, I should be getting the Trace mixes.
These will be cool.

I'll let folks know officially on that.

Regards,
Tom Barr

Would you expect SMS mixed with garden soil to be better than SMS alone? I'm thinking your weight analyses are going to show that the differences are within the range of variability for each of the types of soil. If so, this might be good evidence that substrate selection is primarily an esthetic decision. (Convenient, if so, because that's the answer I want you to reach.)