Water Quality (PH issues)

BONSAI_OUTLAW

I live near Houston, Texas in a little town called Beaumont. We have some of the worst water in the nation here from what I have read. I have coined the term "Jesus water" in reference to it as it is so hard one can almost walk on it. It runs about 8.8 to 8.9 with around 300 ppm. It is loaded with chloramines and various other impurities. To add insult to injury my favorite plants prefer acidic water. So for the last five years or so I have been at war with my water and I have found some tricks to deal with it that I would like to share with those who need help. I was for several years in charge of the all the water entering or leaving offshore oil facilities all over the Gulf Coast and have acquired all kinds of toys to test and monitor water quality. In my humble opinion every gardener should have some way to test for Ph. I like gadgets and use several different digital ph meters.

RO water is in my view unnecessary where I live. Not to mention costly and time consuming. I have an RODI unit that make 75 gallons of water a day, but I just have too many plants for it to keep up. I have more potted plants then some small nurseries I have been too. Most RO units work on a four to one ratio. Four parts waste to one part filtered water. This is true even of the highest quality ones contrary to whatever their literature may say. This is ok if you are making water for a salt water aquarium or for drinking, but not ok for watering copious amounts of plants.

I really have grown fond of miracid for many of my plants and it to some extent alters the Ph as well. I do not recommend using it exclusively for this purpose though. I just use it for fert sometimes.

I have heard some talk about two products called PH UP and PH DOWN. I at this time cannot recommend these for a variety of reasons. I have heard of some success though using these and failures. It might warrant further testing, but I shall not participate in the testing at this time.

Rain water is an awesome source for water. Where I live it is somewhat acidic with a Ph of about 6.5 to 6.8. I purchased several 150 gallon "poly" tanks and then hooked them all together and ran the gutter from my house to them. This is satisfactory for most of the year. I also conserve this precious resource by cutting it with my tap water till I get the Ph I am aiming for. A 150 gallon tank is not as large as it sounds not to mention it is not the only size you can buy. I have mine hidden well and you would have to look for it to find it. Another friend has hers buried with a small pump in it to save space.

At some times of the year rain water is not as plentiful or during droughts and I use my next trick. I alter my tap water by taking my moms panty hose and place peat inside of them. Then tie them off and submerge this into a holding tank. I like to add a few other things into my little "tea bag" like compost and such also, but alas this falls into a fert thread. As the peat sits in the water the water becomes more and more acidic. After a couple of days I use one of my Ph meters to test the water. When it is at the desired Ph I water my plants.

I hope this helps someone out there.

Advertisement

dtree

I have a similar problem where I live close to the Mississippi river. The tap water is very bad for plants here, and after testing it and finding high sodium and magnesium levels and high pH, we use an RO filter for all of our consumable water. (3 people, 2 dogs, 30 bonsai) I live up north so I wouldn't use nearly as much water as a Texan. I have had a lot of people tell me that if you can drink it, it is fine (??!??), or if it is municipal tap water it is fine. This doesn't make sense to me, as I know that water quality and pH definitely affects plant growth. Plus, filtered water makes the best tea !