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lfhennessey
Joined: 03 Jul 2003
Posts: 4
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| Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2003 5:34 pm Post subject: Salt in Water Supply |
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| I live in an area where the local water contains a very high count of sodium. Since I can't change the water, what can I do to counter balance this and keep my landscape/plants healthy. |
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CaptainCompostAL
Joined: 10 Mar 2003
Posts: 866
Location: Irondale,Alabama
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| Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2003 8:38 am Post subject: |
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You should be ok, if you use lots of organic matter in all your garden beds. Compost buffers not only buffers soil pH, but all buffers NaCl salts and other mild toxins in the soil.
You might want to try adding a little Epsom salt to your water in your watering can, or in a special compost tea recipe, if you want too. Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) has been proven to neutralize the toxicity of excessive NaCl salts in soil. |
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lfhennessey
Joined: 03 Jul 2003
Posts: 4
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| Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2003 9:45 am Post subject: |
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| Thanks for the info on combating high levels of sodium. However, I water via a sprinkler system because of the size of my yard. I need to find something I can use to broadcast across my entire property of over an acre. Any more suggestions. |
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CaptainCompostAL
Joined: 10 Mar 2003
Posts: 866
Location: Irondale,Alabama
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| Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2003 12:26 pm Post subject: |
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| You can still just sprinkle a few tblsp of Epsom salt around each of your special flowers, herbs, or veggies. However, I wouldn't worry about it for a lawn. The microbes in the humus in the lawn will take care of itself, without any added soil amendments. |
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Dchall_San_Antonio
Joined: 18 Mar 2003
Posts: 2002
Location: San Antonio,TEXAS
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| Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2003 1:13 pm Post subject: |
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You have an excellent resource for just this question in Texas. Unfortunately it will cost you a soil test to get the info you want.
Talk to K Chandler at
http://www.txplant-soillab.com/
Tell him about your water, your soil, and your grass. He may want a water sample, too. His soil test will tell you exactly how much magnesium and calcium you need to balance out the salt. In Texas hardly anyone needs calcium, so it would be just magnesium (Epsom salts). He specializes in getting the salt balance right.
His soil tests are slightly more expensive than those found elsewhere, but if you asked the other places to do all the testing K does, not only will it cost a lot more, but they won't know how to interpret the results or be able to compare yours to the thousands of other tests he's done. K is well known as THE premier soil tester for organic applications in Texas if not elsewhere. |
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