Mineral growth issue on surface

All about seed grown plants. How-to information, progress reports, show of your results.
User avatar
Fohat85
Posts: 28
Joined: Wed Oct 05, 2022 9:33 am

Re: Mineral growth issue on surface

Post by Fohat85 »

keith wrote: Tue Feb 21, 2023 4:28 pm In my seedling pots I get a little of that crusty buildup and it will often get on the spines . Usually not enough to cause problems. I guess I would try filtering the water for your seedlings or rainwater if its available ?
Luckily with my job, I have free access to distilled water. From now on I will use that directly or to dilute the domestic one
jerrytheplater wrote: Tue Feb 21, 2023 4:06 pm
Fohat85 wrote: Tue Feb 21, 2023 2:59 pm Again one time, your advice was very valuable.
I think I'll buy a no-professional pH meter that can also tell me the hardness of the water (in ppm) and other properties.
I am not aware of any meters available to test Alkalinity. That number will tell you what is happening in your potting mix when you apply the fertilizer.
I found several device able to evaluate pH, salinity, temperature and hardness with the same sensor (about 40 S)
__________Davide____________
Cactus grower from Italy (Rome)
(+38 to -5°C)
User avatar
jerrytheplater
Posts: 1153
Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2021 7:38 pm
Location: Bloomingdale, NJ (USDA Zone 6b)
Contact:

Re: Mineral growth issue on surface

Post by jerrytheplater »

Fohat85 wrote: Tue Feb 21, 2023 6:19 pmI found several device able to evaluate pH, salinity, temperature and hardness with the same sensor (about 40 S)
Would you mind posting a link to what meters you are looking at? You will not need salinity unless you have a salt water aquarium. Hardness? Make sure it is not giving TDS or Total Dissolved Solids. Hardness and TDS are not the same thing. (But maybe you know this already. I don't know your occupation.)

Good news about being able to use DI water from work. I was able to get all the DI water I needed at work as well. I ran the waste treatment room at my job as an electroplater. We produced about 18 gallons per minute of DI water. I used it all the time.
Jerry Smith
Bloomingdale, NJ
45 inches (114 cm) rain equivalent per year, approx. evenly spread per month
2012 USDA Hardiness Zone 6b: -5F to OF (-20C to -18C) min.
User avatar
Fohat85
Posts: 28
Joined: Wed Oct 05, 2022 9:33 am

Re: Mineral growth issue on surface

Post by Fohat85 »

jerrytheplater wrote: Tue Feb 21, 2023 7:41 pm
Fohat85 wrote: Tue Feb 21, 2023 6:19 pmI found several device able to evaluate pH, salinity, temperature and hardness with the same sensor (about 40 S)
Would you mind posting a link to what meters you are looking at? You will not need salinity unless you have a salt water aquarium. Hardness? Make sure it is not giving TDS or Total Dissolved Solids. Hardness and TDS are not the same thing. (But maybe you know this already. I don't know your occupation.)

Good news about being able to use DI water from work. I was able to get all the DI water I needed at work as well. I ran the waste treatment room at my job as an electroplater. We produced about 18 gallons per minute of DI water. I used it all the time.
Yes, as you already said, this is an economic multifunctional analyzer (including TDS sensor not suitable). This is the link.
To really understand the hardness of my water i should by chemical test such as this one. Do you know other evaluation systems?
__________Davide____________
Cactus grower from Italy (Rome)
(+38 to -5°C)
User avatar
jerrytheplater
Posts: 1153
Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2021 7:38 pm
Location: Bloomingdale, NJ (USDA Zone 6b)
Contact:

Re: Mineral growth issue on surface

Post by jerrytheplater »

Fohat85 wrote: Wed Feb 22, 2023 8:28 am
jerrytheplater wrote: Tue Feb 21, 2023 7:41 pm
Fohat85 wrote: Tue Feb 21, 2023 6:19 pmI found several device able to evaluate pH, salinity, temperature and hardness with the same sensor (about 40 S)
Would you mind posting a link to what meters you are looking at? You will not need salinity unless you have a salt water aquarium. Hardness? Make sure it is not giving TDS or Total Dissolved Solids. Hardness and TDS are not the same thing. (But maybe you know this already. I don't know your occupation.)

Good news about being able to use DI water from work. I was able to get all the DI water I needed at work as well. I ran the waste treatment room at my job as an electroplater. We produced about 18 gallons per minute of DI water. I used it all the time.
Yes, as you already said, this is an economic multifunctional analyzer (including TDS sensor not suitable). This is the link.
To really understand the hardness of my water i should by chemical test such as this one. Do you know other evaluation systems?
Davide

I think you may have forgotten to include the link to the chemical test kit you were looking at. Don't buy that meter, the pH, EC, and TDS could be useful-especially pH, but you will also need the pH buffers to calibrate from time to time.

I don't know what brands are available over by you. Do you have an aquarium pet store nearby? They will sell test kits. You want what are known as GH or General Hardness and KH or Carbonate Hardness-very similar to Alkalinity. Just depends on the final pH they take it down to.

I'm pretty sure you should be able to get Sera products by you. Maybe online. https://www.sera.de/en/freshwater-aquar ... -analysis/ This link shows the kH and gH test kits.
Jerry Smith
Bloomingdale, NJ
45 inches (114 cm) rain equivalent per year, approx. evenly spread per month
2012 USDA Hardiness Zone 6b: -5F to OF (-20C to -18C) min.
bbarv
Posts: 217
Joined: Tue Jul 03, 2018 4:21 am
Location: Vancouver, Canada

Re: Mineral growth issue on surface

Post by bbarv »

If your kettle with the time gets somewhat similar salt build up then your water is the reason.
Post Reply