Culture update/ and more questions .

[Gilda]

I found a home water test kit at Lowes and my ph is in the 8-9 range. Alkalinity was mid range on their color scale 120ppm.
Hardness was 50ppm(not as bad as I thought).
Good news for drinking the water, no nitrites, nitrates, copper or iron, no chlorine. All this could be the inline filter we have for rust ,sediment ,taste etc.

I have spent the last few weeks repotting into a bark, coconut husk mix, and now have rainwater to use on my paphs.

I have Jacks Professional Water Soluble Fertilizer 15-5-15 4Ca 2Mg
(For continuous liquid feed programs)
Is this ok to use with paphs and rainwater ? They say 1 tsp /gallon = 188 ppm nitrogen . If it's usable , what ratio would you recommend . Thanks !

Guaranteed Analysis:
Total Nitrogen 15%
3.00% ammoniacal nitrogen
12.00% nitrate nitrogen
Available Potash 5%
Soluble Potash 15%
Calcium 4%
Magnesium 2%
Boron 0.0150%
Copper 0.0075%
Iron 0.0750%
Manganese 0.0375%
Molybdenum 0.0075%
Zinc 0.0375%

 

[Ross]

I've never used this particular fertilizer, but with pure water (R/O), I add my fertilizer (MSU formulation from Blackmore Co.) at a rate of about 100 ppm of Nitrogen and fertilize once a week, flushing with pure water once every 4-6 weeks. I am experimenting with slightly higher rates, now in the spring and reduced the rate slightly last winter.

 

[Gilda]

Thanks for your answer !

 

[SlipperFan]

My understanding is that Jack's took the MSU formula and modified it slightly to have their "own" formula.

 

[Leo Schordje]

Your fertilizer sounds fine, at the rates they list for continuous feeding. I would not worry about the pH, It won't bother most plants and the fertilizer will most likely bring the pH down once added. If you are concerned check the pH again after adding the fertilizer.

 

[cnycharles]

that's just about the same as the scott's 15-5-15 lx (buffered formula which is what LX means) that we used to use at work. geraniums and hanging baskets grew like crazy with that formula. it has a little more ammonium nitrate than others that we use, it should be fine for your plants. we use things with less ammonium when we can because big plants don't fit well on carts to put on trucks...

if city water is pretty soft and has very low dissolved solids, the bleach will often make the reading be a little alkaline. but since it doesn't have a lot of buffering by solids like calcium and other things, it will swing easily to the pH of whatever you are putting into it like fertilizer. if you have very hard water, it is usually much harder to change the pH