Trying this again, sorry if it comes through twice!

I finally got my hands on our water analysis. Can anyone tell me what I
need to do to the water to optimize the quality for orchids? In
exchange I am offering this handy page which could be of help to the
person who understands all this: http://www.lenntech.com/tds-ec_engels.htm

Thanks in advance!



13.07.2004
pH 7,8
Conductivity(µS/cm) 420
Hardness°D 14,56
Hardness°F 26,0
Alkalinity mg/l CO3 0
Alkalinity mg/l HCO3 289
Nitrate mg/l NO3 10
Chloride mg/l Cl 2
Fluoride mg/l 0,20
Sulfate mg/l SO4 11
Lead µg/l Pb 1
Arsenic µg/l As 1
Selen µg/l Se 1
Antimony µg/l Sb 0,5
Iron µg/l Fe 4
Copper mg/l Cu 0,1
Zinc µg/l Zn 6
Manganese µg/l Mn 4

--
Reka

This is LIFE! It's not a rehearsal. Don't miss it!
http://www.rolbox.it/hukari/index.html

Your water is a little hard and pretty alkaline. Your paphs and
phrags probably enjoy it.

Stuff with smaller, finer roots won't take to it well, based on
the hardness. A lot of it depends upon what you're trying to grow.

Your best bet would be to batch prepare your water; add your
fertilizer, re-check your pH, and maybe throw in some Epsom salts
(magnesium sulfate) to help wash out some of the calcium carbonate buildup
now and again with a little ol' cation exchange. Do you see any root tip
burn as it is?

The address in the header isn't valid. Send no email there.

-AJHicks
Chandler, AZ

Aaron Hicks schrieb:
Your water is a little hard and pretty alkaline. Your paphs and
phrags probably enjoy it.

Stuff with smaller, finer roots won't take to it well, based on
the hardness. A lot of it depends upon what you're trying to grow.

Your best bet would be to batch prepare your water; add your
fertilizer, re-check your pH, and maybe throw in some Epsom salts
(magnesium sulfate) to help wash out some of the calcium carbonate buildup
now and again with a little ol' cation exchange. Do you see any root tip
burn as it is?

The address in the header isn't valid. Send no email there.

-AJHicks
Chandler, AZ


Hi, Aaron! Have you been lurking, or do you just seem to sense when a
water question comes up ? ;-) Thanks for answering.
Actually, not much root burn. It seems to affect my oncidiums the most,
I guess. The ones exposed to air turn brownish black.
If it is hard and alkaline, would a certain type of medium help? I was
reading that article on Phals by Alan Koch that Sue Erickson was kind
enough to find for a few of us (Thanks, Sue and a big hug!) and he said
that it is beneficial for the Phals to put dolomite lime and magnesium
into the sphag they use to bring the pH up. So, seeing as I am in the
middle of the Dolomites and our water comes out of them, maybe sphag
would be the medium of choice for me? (Until I get a greenhouse and an
RO system??!!)
Which media would be a worst case scenario for hard water?

--
Reka

This is LIFE! It's not a rehearsal. Don't miss it!
http://www.rolbox.it/hukari/index.html

Hi, Reka. Just not much to write these days, I suppose.

If you're not getting root burn or loss of root tips, and the
growing tips are long, green, and otherwise healthy, what's the problem?

In terms of specific media recommendations- media that will absorb
more water will present more problems with hard water. For example, a
sponge that holds 10x its weight in water will have a high capacity for
holding water, which then evaporates and may deposit salts. A marble or
waterproof pellet will have most or all of the water run off, and leave
almost no salts to preciptate.

This may be ameliorated through the use of magnesium sulfate,
which will deal with calcium carbonate, one of the most insoluble salts,
through cation exchange and solubilizing it.

The other way of dealing with this is never letting the media go
to dryness, so salts don't "fall out" of solution (making them much harder
to re-dissolve). Of course, your plants have to be able to tolerate this
condition- not all orchids will enjoy being feet-wet all of the time.

The address in the header is not valid. Send no email there.

-AJHicks
Chandler, AZ

Aaron Hicks schrieb:
Hi, Reka. Just not much to write these days, I suppose.

If you're not getting root burn or loss of root tips, and the
growing tips are long, green, and otherwise healthy, what's the problem?


Okay, thanks. I was just worried since I have been fertilizing
regularly that it might present some problems with salt buildup.

--
Reka

This is LIFE! It's not a rehearsal. Don't miss it!
http://www.rolbox.it/hukari/index.html

Reka........rain water!!!!!

schrieb:
Reka........rain water!!!!!

My ultimate goal, when we have our own house, will be a rain water
system for toilet and plants in a passive house, but now we live in a
condominium. A rain water barrel on our balcony? My neighbors would
never agree to it. :-(

--
Reka

This is LIFE! It's not a rehearsal. Don't miss it!
http://www.rolbox.it/hukari/index.html

Reka wrote:
schrieb:

Reka........rain water!!!!!

My ultimate goal, when we have our own house, will be a rain water
system for toilet and plants in a passive house, but now we live in a
condominium. A rain water barrel on our balcony? My neighbors would
never agree to it. :-(

They don't have to know. Just put a table top on a barrel. They will
think it's an odd patio table. Only you will know it's full of water.
Now you just have to figure out how to get rain water into a small hose
that leads to your "table".

Steve ;-)