Tropical Fruit > Tropical Fruit Discussion
pH of Tap Water and Gardening
johnb51:
Besides the mangos, avocados, and lychees, I've also planted a guava, tangerine, mamey sapote, and a bunch of papaya plants. I'm looking at carambola, jackfruit, bananas, and eventually atemoya, sugar apple, and persimmon. Any issues with those? ???
nullzero:
I was having issues with high PH water averaging in the low 8s. If you have a large collection of sensitive PH/tap water plants. It may be wise to invest in a RO water system, which CoPlantNut mentioned for removing unwanted additives to the water.
There are workarounds even with blueberries, (making selections on PH tolerance, ex. 'Sunshine Blue' Blueberry). I was adding vinegar to the watering schedule but found it only to mainly help the blueberries much. Foliar spraying seemed to correct a lot of nutrient issues/slow growing caused by the water.
I figured if I started with a acidic container soil mix, the end result would be balanced with the water added. Now using a mainly pine bark mix with foliar spraying, I am now getting great results even with the tap water.
Tomas:
Hi Kevin,
I like your idea with a carbon filter. So it would suffice to just buy one of those attachable water hose carbon filters?
Tomas
CoPlantNut:
--- Quote from: Tomas on March 27, 2012, 12:28:47 PM ---Hi Kevin,
I like your idea with a carbon filter. So it would suffice to just buy one of those attachable water hose carbon filters?
Tomas
--- End quote ---
I've never seen a garden hose attachable one; the carbon filters I've seen usually require a slow flow rate (or huge filter) to really do a good job of removing chlorine. The output from my filter is less than 1 gallon per minute, but I just have a small, cheap one. That's why I use it to fill a large tank which I can then use at any rate I want. I did get lazy and add a pump so that I could still use a hose to water plants with rather than hauling it around in containers, and that makes mixing fertilizer (and adjusting the PH) even easier too.
Here's my setup:
The 40-gallon storage tank is on the top, 20-gallon fertilizer mixing tank in the middle, and the filter is the two cylinders on the bottom, with the pump on the bottom-right. This setup makes using filtered, PH-adjusted water much less of a pain than if I were using buckets.
Kevin
CoPlantNut:
--- Quote from: nullzero on March 27, 2012, 12:16:22 PM ---I was having issues with high PH water averaging in the low 8s. If you have a large collection of sensitive PH/tap water plants. It may be wise to invest in a RO water system, which CoPlantNut mentioned for removing unwanted additives to the water.
There are workarounds even with blueberries, (making selections on PH tolerance, ex. 'Sunshine Blue' Blueberry). I was adding vinegar to the watering schedule but found it only to mainly help the blueberries much. Foliar spraying seemed to correct a lot of nutrient issues/slow growing caused by the water.
I figured if I started with a acidic container soil mix, the end result would be balanced with the water added. Now using a mainly pine bark mix with foliar spraying, I am now getting great results even with the tap water.
--- End quote ---
I always start with an acidic soil mix (for plants that want that) but if you keep watering that mix with PH 8.0 water, the PH will slowly creep up to match the water. The water keeps replenishing the alkaline buffering agents with every watering, and eventually the soil mix will become alkaline. Try getting a soil analysis done on an "acidic" potting mix after it had been watered with tap water for a couple years-- that's what changed my mind. Really, the only way to maintain an acidic soil mix is by replacing it frequently or by adjusting the PH of the water you're using. How long a mix will remain acid depends on the PH of your water and exactly what chemicals are in your water to make it alkaline in the first place-- some are better at buffering (raising the PH over a long term) than others.
I've grown plants that prefer acidic conditions for years; most do just fine with tap water, even as it makes their soil alkaline. Blueberries and miracle fruit are the only fruits I'm growing that seem to demand acidic conditions, but my carambolas and Eugenias seem happier now that they are always getting PH 5.5-6.0 water. (My carambola refuses to bear fruit, however...)
Kevin
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