Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

permaculture - [permaculture] Re: natural water softening

permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: permaculture

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: lblissett <blissett@optonline.net>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [permaculture] Re: natural water softening
  • Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2005 23:51:50 -0500


Meg,

Thanks a lot, all of this information was very helpful. I had been
wondering for a long time what the residue on some of my soil was. As for
the gardenia, I've already repotted it with peat, although the poor thing
was so badly pot-bound when I got it that a lot of the original soil
remains, although this itself seems to have a mulchy consistency, so maybe
it's not that bad, and I've started using filtered water on all my plants.

David Neeley suggested that the use of salts to remediate hard water
wouldn't introduce appreciable amounts of sodium into the water itself, but
I'm not sure if he was talking about water within a processing system (i.e.,
the sort of think you'd hook up to your house) or something you would add to
a closed system (i.e., tablets or powder or something added to bottles of
hard water), in which case I'd imagine the alkaline minerals would still be
there, unless the new salts caused some sort of mineral precipitation /
sedimentation in the water itself).

Also, the information he and others have provided about solar / other
distillation and water purification systems seems like it's very much worth
looking into.

thank you all for your help!

- David Travis



----- Original Message -----
From: "Meg Mullett" <meg@kcnet.com>
To: "permaculture" <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Thursday, January 13, 2005 11:24 AM
Subject: [permaculture] Re: natural water softening


> Hi David,
>
> Since it sounds like you have only a few plants, there are a number of
> things you can do to help them stay healthy.
>
> The first, and most important, is use proper watering technique.
>
> Hard water is defined by having a certain amount of calcium and or
> magnesium dissolved in the water. When the water is allowed to sit and
> evaporate, the water evaporates, but it leaves these calcium and
> magnesium "salts" in and on the surface of the soil. (ever see crusty
> white stuff on the surface of your potting medium?) If you are just
> giving your plants a little "drink" every day, these salts then build up
> until the result is a very salty potting medium.
>
> So, the first thing to do is always water your plants thoroughly,
> flushing the soil completely, until it is draining freely and fast from
> the bottom. Do not allow the water to sit in the pot, or in the tray
> beneath the pot. Do not spritz the plants, as that just makes the water
> evaporate faster off the leaf of the plant, resulting in salt spots on
> the leaves, which kills the plant cells underneath, resulting in
> "speckles".
>
> Spearmint, like most mints, is a very hardy plant and if you use proper
> watering techniques, should not be affected too much by hard water. Put
> the pot in the sink and thoroughly flush it with water. Flush it a
> couple of times. Then put it back in its sunny place and don't water
> again until the soil is dry.
>
> Gardenias, however, are a bit more finicky.
>
> Calcium raises the pH (make it more alkaline/less acid) of the
> soil, but gardenia roots are designed to best be able to uptake water
> and nutrients if the soil is somewhat acid (has a lower pH). They also
> are
> sensitive to chlorine and fluoride, which are often added to city tap
> water.
>
> So what to do?
>
> 1. Always use an acidic potting medium. Professional growers use 100%
> sphagum peat. If you want to use a "potting soil mix", though the term
> is misleading because there's no actual soil in any of them, use one
> that says "for acid loving plants".
>
> 2. Remove the chlorine and fluoride from the water prior to watering.
> Counter top filters, like Brita, will remove chlorine and some of the
> fluoride. Boiling the water will remove the chlorine, as well as *some*
> of the mineral salts. I don't know if it will remove fluoride. Of
> course, always allow the water to return to room temperature prior to
> watering the plant.
>
> 3. Always use proper watering technique, flushing the pot thoroughly
> each time you water.
>
> I respectfully disagree with the person that recommended adding vinegar
> to your water. While vinegar is an acid, (acetic acid) and will
> therefore lower the pH of the water, it will not actually remove any of
> the calcium or magnesium from the water, so your potential to build up
> mineral salts in the potting medium is still there. And, - unless you
> invest
> in a good pH meter (under 100$) and only add enough vinegar to bring the
> pH of the water to around neutral, you have the potential of making the
> water too acidic and killing the plant. Straight vinegar is often used
> as an herbicide.
>
> A few links you may find intersting:
> Houseplants diseases and disorders factsheet:
> http://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheets/HGIC2251.htm
>
> Water Considerations for Container Production of Plants:
> http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/hil/hil-557.html
>
> On growing gardenias:
> http://www.behnkes.com/page.php?group_page_id=420
>
>
> Hope this helps. Good luck!
>
> Meg in KS
>
> >
> >
> > Meg,
> >
> > I'm in central New Jersey. I'm not really sure what minerals are
> > causing the water to be hard, but the residue, the taste, and the way it
> > interacts with skin/hair are giveaways. In the southern part of the
state,
> > the water is very soft (and quite delicious!).
> >
> > I had a spearmint plant that had a pattern of leaf spots
consistent
> > with exposure to hard water, but what I'm really worried about is my
> > gardenia. Supposedly they are very sensitive to both hard water and the
> > presence of salts (which, unfortunately, seems to rule out using salt to
> > remediate the water).
> >
> > - David
> _______________________________________________
> permaculture mailing list
> permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/permaculture





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page