I have always used our house tap water to water my trees. It is alkaline, about 7.5 to 8, and very hard, GH 180 and KH 240. The worst problem it has caused that I am aware of is lots of scale on pots and sometimes leaves.
Now I have a couple of nice trees that prefer acid soil and softer water. I can take care of the Ph by adding acid to the water. That is what I do with hydroponics. But all the solutions to hard water (softners and RO) are not something I want to use.
Rainwater seems to be the best DYI solution. It tends toward neutral/acidic and is not hard. That works in the summer time where it is easy to collect and use. Somehow I am not there to collect snow and ice melt in the winter. But I guess I could. The only downside I see is; I have raccoons around the house. Sometimes they go on the roof so I would have raccoon poop soup. And no, killing off the raccoons is not an option.
I could buy distilled water but the ones I have measured would need the Ph lowered.
Thoughts? Lessons learned?
Bonsai Empire and Peter Warren have a new video out: “pH of Water and Soil for Bonsai“
Hi guys,
I have started using a counter top RO unit and it is great for my needs. This could be your winter option David. My tap water is also a pH of 8, and has a TDS around 800. After the filter the pH is about 6, and the TDS is 4. I use a MSU RO fertilizer to add nutrients back into my water. I am about 6 months into using the new RO filter, and am very happy with the results.
David, I was reading about this in Mike H. new book and thinking the same thing. I'm not sure there is an easy solution and everything you have discussed are options. Have you noticed any difference from your trees when the pH was modulated?
I use Dr. Earth - Acid Lovers on all Maples and Boxwoods. Some Maples started turning yellow a couple years ago. One was all yellow and I used this product on it and it turned green by the end of the growing season. My large Sharps Pygmy was half yellow and I used it and it was all green in a couple of months. I use it on Boxwoods as a commercial grower said they like acidic soil and to grow them like Azaleas. My Boxwoods love this stuff. If something is turning yellow I use it. I do not know how moss likes this product, I am about to find out though as I one tree is turning yellow and I am going to try it. I buy mine from Lowes.
As for hard water stains on pots, try some WD-40, fine steel wool and a little elbow grease on the pots. Let the WD-40 set for about 10 mins. first. The pot in the below photo had hard waters stains and Mary was able to clean the pot right up. WD-40 works great on faucets to. Note: Mary did not clean her pot up before the show - hence the water stains on it in the photo below.