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PostPosted: Wed Mar 17, 2004 8:51 pm 
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Joined: Wed Aug 20, 2003 2:18 pm
Posts: 5
Location: Camp Wood, TX
We just moved to Camp Wood, TX and our water well has very hard water (113 grains/gallon) :shock: . It also has 1593 ppm of Sulfate, a TDS of 2810 ppm, alkalinity of 281 ppm CaCO3, Magnesium of 231 ppm, Calcium of 394 ppm, clear Iron of 0.04 ppm, and Sodium of 99 ppm. We planned on a vegetable garden, but don't know how we can handle this hard water. Are there some plants that will tolerate this water? Won't the salts build up in the soil after a few years? Should we use a water softener for the irrigation water? Won't the sodium in softened water be bad for plants? We would appreciate any advice you can give us.


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PostPosted: Thu Mar 18, 2004 10:39 am 
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Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2003 8:15 am
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Location: Odenville,Alabama
Hard water is not a real problem for a well managed sustainable soil building program.

Compost alone, buffers and balances, millions of beneficial soil microbes, and maintains the proper amounts of available nutrients to plant roots, while blocking lots of mild toxins and pathogens in the soil from crops.

Humates also buffer and chelate nutrients to plant's foliage and roots, when used in tea brews. Humates can come from compost, natural mulches, tea brews, or cover crops.

Also various biostimulants like compost teas, fish or seaweed teas, using lots of molasses products, buffers and chelates the right kinds and amounts of nuitrients to plants, if used as a foliar and soil drench.

Epsom salts are great for using in tea brews, in order to neutralize and buffer and balance high saline water or soil issues around plants. The extra available magnesium and sulfur from Epsom salts, helps balance the available levels of Ca, Na, Cl, and many other micronutrients in the soil.

_________________
The entire Kingdom of God can be totally explained as an Organic Garden (Mark 4:26)
William Cureton


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PostPosted: Sat Mar 20, 2004 3:25 pm 
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Joined: Wed Aug 20, 2003 2:18 pm
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Location: Camp Wood, TX
Would epsom salts really be a good idea? My water already has 231 ppm of Magnesium in it which the state agriculture department lists as "limiting" for vegetable and ornamental plant growth. Adding epsom salts would just add to that magnesium level.

Also, "normal" hard water might not be a real issue with an organic program, but the water I described below (113 g/gallon) is over ten times harder than the water that the state identifies as "extremely hard" (6 - 10 g/gallon). Can an organic program buffer water that is that hard? Looking for some good answers and recommendations, as I already plan on an organic approach. If just the organic approach can buffer water this hard, that's great, but I am skeptical. Are there any case studies or examples out there of using water in excess of 100 g/gallon?


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