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| Thursday, March 29, 2007 |
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WATER WATER!
By SuperUser @ 4:28 PM :: 1736 Views ::
1 Comments ::  :: Marg
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Following on from the feedback we received from the last newsletter, we thought it might be helpful to consider further the quality of water used for plants. Those gardeners who use greywater which originates from Meredith mains water, already have to contend with high salt and chlorine levels as well as any of their own chemical additives that finally end up in their greywater. It is important to note that water softeners (the type used for fluffy towels or knitted garments) contain resins that remove calcium and magnesium from water replacing them with sodium (salt). It is preferable not to allow this water to go into your greywater for garden usage.
If you are using bore, dam or river water to keep your garden growing, it may be that you have high levels of salt, or other chemicals (boron most notably from bores) which make it difficult to keep your garden alive, let alone growing. Many people hold the belief that because they can drink their dam, bore or river water, it must be OK for their garden.
However, as we at the Nursery know, just because water is drinkable for humans, does not mean that plants necessarily appreciate it!! Salt is measurable in water due to the Electrical Current it passes and is measured by this, hence ‘EC’. EC1000 = 640 parts per million for those who are more familiar with this measurement. Plants such as Begonia, Camellia, Cymbidium, Fuschia, Gardenia, Phormium (flax), Photinia Robusta, Protea, Rhododendron and Rose, but to name a few, are very salt sensitive, that is they will not tolerate salt levels higher than EC 700. Hydrangeas, Felicia, geranium and freesias are sensitive, tolerating salt levels of up EC1400.
Categories continue through to moderately tolerant, tolerant and then very tolerant. The latter category can manage EC 8000 without significant reductions in growth. This include species such as Correa alba, many casuarinas, banksias, callistemons, a variety of eucalyptus including river red gum, swamp yate and spathulata, several varieties of melaleucas, and Westringia fruticosa. We have an extensive list available at the nursery for anyone interested.
However, all is not lost if your water is not ideal. There are ways to manage water with high salt levels or other additives. The easiest and most practical way, which has many additional benefits, is to use MULCH. Organic mulch of straw, hay, compost, leaves, animal manures, seaweed, pine bark, wood chips and non organic mineral materials such as pebbles, gravel and sand reduce water use, salt stress on plants and weed control. Depending on the particular mulch it should be applied at a depth of 40-75mm. It is important that water can penetrate. Using mulch can reduce the total EC being watered by approximately 40%. If anyone would like to know the salt content of their water supply we are happy to test it free of charge. Just bring in a 250ml sample and we can test it in a few minutes for you and advise you how to best manage your situation.
Happy gardening!
Marg, Lloyd, Aaron, Linda & Craig
Team at Meredith Nursery.
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| Comments |
 By
jean tustin @
Tuesday, June 26, 2007 10:53 PM
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an exciting start, keep it up, looking forward to extra news on your site.
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