On Sun, 24 Sep 2006 19:25:33 -0400, Mike Coslo
wrote:

Mebbe, Richard. I hate to sound skeptical, but it actually grows on
untreated PE? I mean PE's inert behavior and the difficulty of anything
sticking to it are one of the reasons that companies like Nalgene (okay,
Nalge) use it.

Hi Mike,

In fact you are trying to rope in three species to do the same thing.
Mold is a fungus as is mildew, moss is not. Mold is often intolerant
of light (rainy regions offer plenty of sun-free days, I only have to
glance out the window to confirm this - but not today.). Fungi are
not even in the plant kingdom.

Moss is not a fungus, it is a plant. Along with Lichens, I've seen
plenty enough growing on rocks to know how little is needed for
nourishment. Contrary to the Fungi's lack of sunlight tolerance,
Mosses survive quite well, and sunlight is more a threat to their
water supply (evaporation). Simply put, Mosses are very different
plants.

Nalgene may be *resistant, but it is not *proof (remember how they
changed advertising of watches decades ago?). Mold has been known to
destroy EVERYTHING, even other molds.

Certainly this demands exceptional circumstances, but that is why it
has been reported he exceptional circumstances have been found and
not as rare as some might believe - certainly in this region.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC