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Danville, CA ([email protected])

Well we have spoken of this before and I have searched the links, etc. My pumpkins this year have grown great salad and not as great pumpkins. Still good sized, but I fear it is not going to be a PB this year. What changed? Well several things but the only "negative" thing (that I might have done, can't be held responsible for the cold weather) is that I have a new well with water with a pH of 7.9 with total alkalinity of 760mg/l. I have used this well exclusively to water the pumpkins. Last year was house water. I have posted a picture of the water test in my diary (should be up soon), but the long and short is that it is VERY hard, high pH, etc. Can I blame the water this year?

Also, it would seem that in order to "fix" this issue, I need a acid injecting device (would a Dosatron work?) which seems a bit over the top for me. Should I just bring the pH of the patch down substantially over the coming fall or ..... The pH in my patch was 7.5 to start so.....

Any and all suggestions would be great. Thanks

8/17/2007 5:21:39 PM

Mill Bay, British Columbia

I found this article interesting....just about everything you need to know about water.

http://www.bae.ncsu.edu/programs/extension/publicat/wqwm/he419.html

8/17/2007 5:54:17 PM

Clayton Cal

I wonder if the water quality would have changed if we had more or even normal rain this year by the way how deep is your well,your salad looks healthy so i think the plants are healthy not suffering damage from the well water RDY-B

8/17/2007 10:32:57 PM

Ontario, Canada.

Nope, Other than affecting the life of your tank mixes for use in pesticides there is little effect of of high pH water on soil.

8/18/2007 6:35:21 AM

[email protected]

Eric,

I looked over the results you emailed here. I'm no water expert but I seenothing in that report that would prevent me from drinking it so watering with it is fine.

8/18/2007 4:58:59 PM

Danville, CA ([email protected])

Well shoot, thanks to all who replied. I was hoping to blame the water. My well is quite shallow as we have water running on the sandstone and a creek behind the house.

The results of the test seem fine to me too, except as Kuhuna pointed out, I need to watch the pesticide and fert mixes.

I guess I will blame the cold weather. Was blaming that anyway, but it has been the coldest summer I can ever remember. Not getting any ripe tomatoes either....

Thanks again

8/18/2007 10:56:37 PM

Hayward, CA

Well, it does make me feel better knowing that I'm not the only one that thinks this summer is still not here yet. First year I tried to grow these and this summer is lousy! Guess that will make next year more fun to look forward to. We did see all the plants grow and got some pumpkins too, but I always thought everyone else had a lot more growth on both the plants and the fruit. It's still a blast!

8/19/2007 11:46:17 PM