Maximum Yield USA December 2019 / January 2020 | Page 32

Maintaining Proper pH with Hard Water So how do you combat this effect? Well, before you begin growing you should find out whether the water source you intend to use is hard or soft. You can do this by looking online as there are maps available that will show which areas have hard or soft water. You can also call your city services and ask. If you suffer with lime scale buildup in pipes, kettles, or other household appliances and systems,then chances are you have hard water. Measurement-wise, anything between 17.1-60 ppm is classed as slightly hard and shouldn’t cause you any noticeable problems. “ The more calcium and magnesium in the water will directly influence how much of the other nutrients, such as potassium and phosphorus, get locked out and not taken up by the plant.” ORGANIC WATER-EXTRACTED HUMIC ACID ® BEFORE SEE & TASTE The Difference!* AFTER* Increases The Nutrient Uptake & Get Bigger Yields With Less Fertilizer!* www.HumicHarvest.com [phone] [email protected] U.S. Pat. No. 10,314,874 *This is a cartoon dramatization of plant growth. However, Water-Extracted Humic Acid ® has been proven to increase yields and reduce fertilizer by 20%, by increasing nutrient uptake. The increased nutrient uptake & trace minerals in Water- Extracted Humic Acid ® have also been proven to increase brix levels which normally correlate with better taste & smell. 32 Maximum Yield You can buy strip tests online which, when dipped into a water sample, will change color and the corresponding color will tell you how hard the water is (like a pH test). In fact, pH is good indicator as to how hard your water is. Ways to Deal with Hard Water Hard water feeds are available from many of the big nutrient companies. They work by lowering the final pH of your feed but should only be used if you have very hard water, so a pH of 7.8 and above. If you use a hard water feed and your pH is still too high, you can use ‘pH down’ to reduce it further to the plant’s sweet spot of 5.5-6.5. Just remember to not try and adjust your solution until all your other nutrients have been added. Another solution is using reverse osmosis on your water. This is a filtering system where the water is pushed through a set of membranes which have pores that decrease in size. This process removes calcium, magnesium, and other hard water culprits by blocking molecules over a certain size from passing through the membranes and so softens the water. Be warned, however, that this can be a costly process to run and maintain. If you are considering reverse osmosis for all of your water, it can also strip other nutrient elements from the water which could leave you with another set of problems if you use it too much. Hard water may also impact equipment, where you will see a white chalky buildup of magnesium or calcium carbonate. This can accumulate quickly because the presence of heat within the growing environment creates an endothermic reaction in the solution, where the warmer it gets the more carbonate is created and deposited, creating blockages, restrictions, and, ultimately, underperforming or failing equipment. This is why hard water is not recommended for use in recirculation systems and such. Ins and Outs of Soft Water By contrast, soft water has had minimal exposure to rocks and earth that are rich in minerals, especially calcium and magnesium. It is water originating from surface pathways like rivers and streams where the basins are formed from hard, impervious rocks. Water can also be made soft via treatments like reverse osmosis and through using a water softener. Water softening is where hard water ions of calcium and magnesium are flooded with and replaced by sodium ions, which lowers the hardness of the water. This is a popular and useful treatment for clothes washing and bathing as it reduces the amount of chalky buildup in pipes and machinery. Soft water is not the best for human consumption or for feeding plants. In measurement terms anything below 17.1 ppm or a pH of 7.8 or below is classed as soft water.