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Is your water getting softer?
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Posted by tunilla SE France 7 (My Page) on Tue, Sep 2, 08 at 15:51
Hello to all.I read with interest the various suggestions for dealing with alkaline water and soils.We are professional Cactus and succulent growers in SE France and have to deal with the same problems.We simply add sulphuric acid to our irrigation water in order to lower the ph to 5,5 - 6.Sulphuric acid is the same as car-battery acid and can usually be obtained from DIY or similar types of stores.You also need ph testing paper to find out just how much acid is needed for a given volume of water(by comparing the colour chart).These ph testing kits are usually available from pharmacists.
As for the soil,moss peat (usually Baltic peat) is very acid and has the capacity of fixing free lime in exchange for hydrogen.You can add this to your soil up to 1/3.But you must at the same time add a complete fertiliser containing magnesium and trace elements (geranium fertiliser will do at double the recommended strenght.After that,watering with acidified water and giving a shot of fertiliser every so often should give you sturdy but not overfed plants.Good luck! Tunilla |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Is your water getting softer?
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- Posted by amato 8a-northern Greece (My Page) on
Wed, Sep 3, 08 at 13:25
| thanks Tunilla How alkaline is your water? How much sulfuric acid do you add to lower it to 5.5-6.0? |
RE: Is your water getting softer?
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Hello Amato.Our mains water usually has a ph of 7,9 -8.We buy very concentrated sulphuric acid (96%).We add 500 ml to our water tank wich holds 4 cubic metres (4000 litres).
This works out as 1 ml for 8 litres of water.Battery acid is usually 35%,so my guess would be that you should probably add 2,5 ml for 8 litres of water.In any case, it would be wise to have this checked by a laboratory ,unless of course you've got ph testing paper (or a reliable ph meter).Greetings Tunilla.
PS:I forgot:I don't know what your water ph is of course,so,some experimenting would be advisable. |
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