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  • From: <sunnfarm AT netscape.com>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] pH Balancing of Greenhouse Water
  • Date: Fri, 18 Apr 2008 07:24:40 -0700

Marlin. I liked the writeup you got in Lancaster Farming last week...
 
With a PH of 7 all you need to do is use a constant liquid feeding of any water soluble
ammonia based greenhouse fertilizer like 20 10 20  or triple 20. This type of fertilizer
is very effective in lowering Ph. Just apply a low rate like 100 ppm at every watering
and your Ph should remain low. The hozon units work well on a small scale but they suckup
a lot of water pressure... Bob.
Sunny Meadow Farm
Bridgeton, NJ.
 
 

--- glenecofarm AT planetcomm.net wrote:

From: "Glen Eco Farm" <glenecofarm AT planetcomm.net>
To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: [Market-farming] pH Balancing of Greenhouse Water
Date: Thu, 17 Apr 2008 22:47:58 -0400

 
I have recently been hearing more discussion amoung our local produce growers about the need for pH balancing of their water supply, particularly in reference to greenhouse watering and, in some cases, with water going through drip irrigation systems.  Many of them are fertigating with various chemical formulations and I am under the impression that part of the reason for the need for pH adjustment is to get the desired performance from these chemical fertilizers.  Whenever I get to asking questions about this it always comes up that I need to get Dositrons and various other paraphenalia in order to set it up, as I understand that most of them are doing.  This never gets me very excited.
 
I have always managed my greenhouse watering and the limited amount of drip irrigation that I do in blissful ignorance, preferring to keep things as bare bones as possible.  I run a garden hose from the nearest hydrant to water my small greenhouse and I do a simalar thing with the drip, with the exception that I usually put a screen filter and pressure regulator between the garden hose and the drip header lines.  However, some things never fail to fail (or at least to not do as well as I would like them to) every year in the greenhouse.  After considering all of the things that can go wrong in the greenhouse--getting things too cold (or too hot), too wet (or too dry), not having clean enough planting containers, not getting the potting medium mixed correctly, using old or low germination seed, fertilization errors etc, I have decided that perhaps I should pay some attention to the water pH issue.  I bought a pH test kit and checked my water supply and got the results I expected, a pH of 7.  One person I talked to told me that my hose end water pH should definately not be over 7 and should preferably be in the 6 - 6.5 range.  Therefore the reason for pH adjusting.
 
There are two ways that this might be doable outside of investing in Dosatrons. 1) Fix up a large container (50 gallons or more) with a tap at the bottom or a pump to pull out the top and dump in enough vinegar or sulfuric acid to adjust the pH and use this for the water supply. 2) Get one of those simple devices that screw between the hydrant and the water hose with a drop tube into a container of liquid fertilizer, acid or whatever else you want to add to the water.  Most of these dispense at about a 1 - 16 ratio and I have heard are not very consistent.  I do have a tool shed nearby to my greenhouse where I am considering setting a 50 gallon plastic drum on the 8' high nearly flat roof.  This should give me enough gravity to have adequate water pressure in the greenhouse.
 
Those are my ideas.  Has anyone else worked with or had experiences with water pH issues?   Or should I ask is pH balancing really that important?
 
Marlin Burkholder
Virginia (Shenandoah Valley)
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  • Re: [Market-farming] pH Balancing of Greenhouse Water, sunnfarm, 04/18/2008

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