Hey, on the alkaline water situation (which we sure do have here, too) we got a great tip from a grower at the orchid club meeting last week - a tablespoon of vinegar to a gallon of water lowers the pH by about 3/10ths . So my pH 7.6 water needs 2 tablespoons of vinegar per gallon to get it down to neutral.
On the phosphorus front though - just about all water in Florida has naturally occurring phosphorus so that pretty much puts paid to any thought of growing Protea here, I think. Unless . . . I invest in a Reverse-osmosis system and make my own pure, neutral water . . hmmm.
It would save us buying bottled water for hurricane season, too.
