Well Water Ph?

[ceresone]

Didnt want to steal anothers thread. does well water need to be tested for PH before you use it on a garden? I seldom water, but I'd just never thought of that before.

[Paquebot]

Look in your teakettle or toilet bowl. Lots of lime in the teakettle is a sign of alkaline water and it's the most common well water. If you never see any scale buildup in your toilet bowl, it's probably the uncommon acidic water. The one time that I checked mine it was 7.4. Rainwater in Missouri and Wisconsin should be considered at about 5.0 or less.

Do you see another little detail in the big picture here? We constantly hear about how plants react to a little rainfall but merely remain alive with many more gallons of city or well water. The soil pH is temporarily buffered down so that the plants can take up the nutrients in the soil.

Martin

[ceresone]

Thanks, Martin. The other post got me wondering, yes, the tea kettle has scale build-up.I think theres a lot we dont understand about the relationship of the elements. For instance, I read once that lightening would free elements in the soil for plants to use (cant remember the exact wording, its been 50 years ago). But then, a weatherman told me I was imagining things.--Just like I was told our much maligned clay soil has all the necessary stuff to grow with--if we can release it. (sorry, its early morning, and no coffee yet, if I dont make sense).

[ceresone]

Another bright thought-LOL-- thats why Mom always saved rain water to wash our hair. She said it was "soft water" so--the PH is what makes water either soft water--or hard water? a phrase i've always heard.

[Marcia in MT]

pH is a measure of how acidic, alkaline, or neutral the water is. Hard and soft refer to how much mineral content is in the water. Soft water has almost no mineral content and is generally considered neutral in pH, but that's not always the case -- remember acid rain? It picked up chemicals in the air from pollution as it fell, changing its pH.

Making a slightly more acidic pH can also help with the mineral problem in water. We add acid to our water supply in the greenhouse to reduce its pH and help lessen mineral buildup, but I just live with it at home.

Lightning releases nitrogen from the air. It's measurable.

Clay soil has the *potential* to be really fertile if the soil structure is helped by the addition of organic matter and perhaps gypsum. The formation of humic acids as the organic matter is broken down helps buffer the soil and make its nutrients more available to the plants.

[Paquebot]

The force of the lightning breaks up the nitrogen molecules in the air and combines them with oxygen to form nitric oxide. That's absorbed by the raindrops and falls as a nitrate. It does not free up the elements in the soil as nitrogen but act's like a side-dressing with ammonia. It's the acidity of the rain which frees up the nutrients for the plants to take up.

Martin

[Jenn]

for curious nonchemists (haven't been one for three decades so hope this is at layman HTer level no higher): how acid or base the soil (ie the water in the soil) is, ie the soil pH, affects the soil nutrients- some will not dissolve or will overly dissolve in acidic or basic soil (water). When they say a nutrient is 'tied up' this is meant: the positive or negative charge on it from the acidity or basicity of the soil water keeps it connected electrically to other things in the soil and unwilling to be dissolved in soil water and absorbed by plants. Like sand in water instead of A SMALL AMOUNT of salt or sugar in water. So acid loving plants- azalea and blueberries- can be short of iron but don't need iron, just need more acidic soil so the iron present in the soil dissolves and they can absorb it. Each plant has its preferences but most do better near neutral pH (except acid lovers). Few do well at high pH such as you get when you water with high pH water for too long.