Bad Water?

[CornHusker]

I battled this a few years ago for my in-laws and it's a constant struggle Addressing pH is relatively easy, it's the buildup of hard water minerals over time that are the killer. Ultimately we converted the raised beds to wicking beds/SIPs. This drastically reduced the water consumption & allowed rain water collection to provide water needed.

Option 1, 2, & 3 is to collect rain water as others have mentioned. Lots of ways to do this that are attractive. Would need to check on the legality of it in your area though. Any home-built water filter to avoid rain water collection is going to require storage tanks anyway.

If you want to address the water directly & ion-exchange or reverse osmosis filters are not practical, you need to find out if you have "temporary" or "permanent" hard-water. Easiest way to tell is to bring 2-3 gallons of water to a boil then let it cool. If scale precipitates out, you have "temporary" hard-water.

For "temporary" hard-water, you can use slaked lime to soften the water ("lime washing"). For "permanent" &/or "temporary" hard-water, washing soda can be used as a softener ("soda washing"). In both cases, the precipitate will need to be cleaned from the tank. Also, sodium salts can be problem with washing soda. If your municipality changes water sources, your process will need to adapt. Either approach will get you down to 5-10 gpg in the absolute best case...

Being precise with either method can get difficult/expensive. There are other chemical alternatives (acids/ammonia/etc) but not sure I would use them on water going to plants. The swimming pool forums have a lot of info on how difficult it is to get calcium out of hard water.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_wa...es_of_hardness

Good luck & let us know what you figure out

[Gardeneer]

Worth
I think your maters are doing great, regardless. If I remember it correctly, tomatoes thrive in a wide pH range (5.8 to 7.2 ?). But most garden veggies (except some herbs) prefer a slightly acid soil : 6.8 being ideal. I have done just fine with pH of 5.8 to 6,4 for years

Gardeneer

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Gardeneer

Worth
I think your maters are doing great, regardless. If I remember it correctly, tomatoes thrive in a wide pH range (5.8 to 7.2 ?). But most garden veggies (except some herbs) prefer a slightly acid soil : 6.8 being ideal. I have done just fine with pH of 5.8 to 6,4 for years

Gardeneer

Thanks, I have been diligently watching the PH every day.
Last year I wasn't able and I would get home after a few days and that same meter would read over 8 and the soil would foam with diluted vinegar on it.

One thing that is stumping me is the plant in the picture is the stumpiest and greenest of the lot.
I have two of them and they are supposed to be Black Prince.
They are taking on the growth habit of a dwarf somewhat compared to the other plants.


Worth

[Worth1]

I should have taken a picture this morning but I didn't.
I have been watching the PH slowly go up in the beds and it rained 1-1/4 inches last night.
This morning in the same spot as these pictures are in the ph was over 7 and the fertility was borderline.
I sprayed the vinegar again and look what it is back down to.
I think it has been around two weeks now since the last time I sprayed.
Some areas were at 8.
Fertility
IMG_2015041327996.jpg
PH

IMG_201504131340.jpg

[Tracydr]

Had the same problem in AZ. And, lots of sediment in boiled water. I put vinegar in with my canning water.
I used sulphur in the garden and added ironite as needed, which also has sulphur/ammonium sulfate in it.
Mine got so high that a pool pH strip just read high. The strip went to 9.0 if I remember right. The only year my tomatoes did well is when I used rainwater and we had enough to use most of the summer.

[Stvrob]

You should consider adding elemental sulfur and try to get most of your plants Nitrogen supplied by an ammonium based product. Your only hesitation for sulfur, I see you like to grow sweet onions. It wont hurt anything, but if your soil grows very mild onions, the sulfur will likely make them more pungent. Other than that, I dont see a down side.

Bacteria will slowly oxidize the sulfur and release sulfuric acid which will work on the carbonate in your soil. Your hard water aggravates the problem but its the carbonate in your soil that is really where the problem needs to be addressed

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Stvrob

You should consider adding elemental sulfur and try to get most of your plants Nitrogen supplied by an ammonium based product. Your only hesitation for sulfur, I see you like to grow sweet onions. It wont hurt anything, but if your soil grows very mild onions, the sulfur will likely make them more pungent. Other than that, I dont see a down side.

Bacteria will slowly oxidize the sulfur and release sulfuric acid which will work on the carbonate in your soil. Your hard water aggravates the problem but its the carbonate in your soil that is really where the problem needs to be addressed

I am going to use the sulfur but am waiting to have another excuse to go that direction before I get it.
I might try the feed supply store down the road.
My problem is I stay so dirty working outside I dont have time to take a shower and change cloths to go somewhere.

I meant to this morning but got involved in doing something and have just now finished.

Onions are going some place else Garlic will take their place in these beds.

Its almost 4 already where did the day go.


Worth