>>> Ralph Walter <[log in to unmask]> 31/07/99 1:15:31 >>>
wrote:
"I should think the ivory promotes moisture in the walls by sending in its
little roots and suckers and drawing water from the ground into the wall
towards those selfsame roots
and suckers.  Or am I full of cricket parts?"

Ralph

I'm no specialist on the anatomy of ivy, but I think you'll find that the suckers that it puts out onto walls and into joints are there for stabilisation rather than to absorb moisture.  Unless there is a moisture source in the wall (like a leaking rainwater downpipe) then all of the water the ivy uses will be coming from the underground root system (and so it might even be reducing the rising damp as well by keeping the ground beneath the wall dry!!).

Of course, fertiliser of cricket parts and cat barf will accelerate the rate of growth.  Indeed, we could prove that the uptake is all from the ground by setting up an experiment.  We could fertilise one ivy plant on the wall by injecting cat barf into the joints, and fertilise another one on the ground by digging in chopped cave crickets (or maybe even masonite cow pads, if there is such a thing).  Then get Al Italia to monitor the rate of growth.

Just a thought.

david