Hybridizers: It can be fun to breed your own zinnias - Part 3, 0 by Zen_Man

Zen_Man wrote:
Lucy,

I don't know if the local gardeners know about the deficiency of Boron in our municipal water. The subject hasn't come up. It probably wouldn't affect anyone who used a lot of compost in their garden, since there are trace amounts of Boron (and other trace elements) in many of the components that go into compost. However, my indoor operation makes use of "sterile" soil-less growing mediums, which contain very little in the way of nutrients, trace or otherwise. I have to supply pretty much all of the required nutrients dissolved in the water that I use on my zinnias.

It's actually better if there isn't much Boron in your water. You can always add Boron, but if there is too much Boron in your water, it can be phytotoxic to your plants. There are some areas where Boron in the irrigation water is a problem. I'm attaching a closeup of the bloom on that little plant above. Actually, it has developed some since this picture was taken a few days ago.

ZM