Water

Aside from feeding thirsty plants, your garden water is also the delivery method for most of the nutrients, or in a hydroponic setup, all of the nutrients your plants will receive.  Thus, high quality, clean, PH balanced water is absolutely essential to the health of your garden.  You should be extremely familiar with the quality and properties of the water source that you use, as it will directly impact the quality and health of your garden.  Don't forget to monitor and possibly adjust the temperature of the water you feed to your garden.  Just like humans, your plants won't appreciate very cold or very hot water. 

For the most part, public and municipal water systems are very safe for humans to drink, however that might not be the case for your plants.  While people might not notice slight differences in water from one source to another, these differences can mean life or death for your garden.  Some types of water are more problematic for your garden such as hard water or well water.  Due to the wide variations in the properties of any water source, we highly suggest you test your water source at least twice a year, especially when the temperature changes with the season.  Not only are your plants drinking this water, so are you!

The most commonly tested for characteristics are PH, heavy metals, particulates and sediment, mineral content and pathogens.

PH test equipment as well as PH adjustment additives are extremely common and inexpensive.  There is no correct PH level, as it is completely dependent on what you are growing in your garden.  Desired PH levels for one type of plant can vary depending on the growing medium such as soil vs. hydroponics.

Some harmful contaminants such as heavy metals, biological contaminants, bacteria, chemicals or other factors require slightly more drastic measures to combat. 

Many gardeners will choose a multi-stage stage R.O. (Reverse Osmosis) system to treat their water.  Reverse osmosis water treatment works by passing the water through multiple types of filtration.  Water is first passed through a sediment filter, which traps and removes larger particles such a calcium carbonate and rust.  The water is then passed through an activated carbon chemical filter, which traps chlorine and most organic chemicals.  In some systems, an ultraviolet light is used to sterilize remaining microbes.  While R.O. treatment removes most of the harmful contaminants in water, it may also remove many of the desirable minerals as well.  It is of utmost importance that RO water be fortified to the desired conditions for your garden with fertilizers, supplements and PH adjustment. 

Click here to take a look at a Reverse Osmosis water treatment system we offer.

The lesson to be learned here is that water is the life-blood of your plants.  Water that is thoroughly tested and properly tailored to the needs of your specific plants, is absolutely one of the most important ingredients to a healthy, thriving garden.  Water quality is one of the first things you should focus on when getting started, regardless of what you choose to grow in your garden.