Hello ..

Thats an interesting question !! Most want to make hard water soft !!!!

Hard water is high in Calcium and Magnesium ...

How will you use the water ?? Thats important.

Good Day ...

Hey Mohave kid ,

thank you for replying so quickly. Well a lot of us here in Singapore can't get our lavenders to flower and I have boiled it down to the fact that our water is too soft qnd chemically treated. As for weather factors...the humidity is harsh on the english lavenders...but the french lavenders can take the abuse of the heat and rain pretty darn well.However it still refuses to flower....so I am trying to make my own hard water to see if that will do the trick. what do you think...do u have a formula?

Hello ..

I attached some water quality guidelines at the link below ..

I would consider that you keep track of pH .. salinity .. and your SAR if you can and your sulfate levels ..

Calicium carbonate and Magnesium Sulfate ( epson salt )will let you make the water hard. Remember that 1 mg of Calcium Carbonate and / or Magnesium Sulfate will give you 1 part per million Calcium or Magnesium.

My hard water here is VERY high 300 ppm .. 150 ppm is fairly hard .. 80 ppm slightly hard. As your water gets harder it increases in salinity .. so check the guidelines. Also .. the ratio of Calcium .. Magnesium and Sodium form the SAR ratio .. check it's values in the guideline ..

SAR = Na / square root ( [ Ca + Mg ] / 2 ) ...

Na , Ca . and Mg concentrations measured in me / liter in above equation.

Water Quality

Good Day ...

Wow Mohave Kid,

You are smart. Unlike me...sigh..Anyway, the information you've given me sounds pretty interesting. I called up my water department and he the chemist there said that our water in Singapore is soft and Total Hardness less than a 100 mg/l. How do I convert that to ppm? He suggested that I just add calcium carbonate to my water and not to really bother with the epsom salts. What is your advice on this? Should I or should I not include magnesium in the water? You mentioned that you water is very hard...300ppm...do you use them on your plants? Are they happy? Thanks A million Mohave Kid. B

"How do I convert that to ppm?"

OK .. it's easy ( LOL )

100 mg / L IS 100 ppm ... ppm is a ratio of weights ..

1 liter weighs 1,000,000 mg so any substance weighed in mg can be expressed as ppm by it's weight in mg / 1,000,000 mg.

Your range ( 100 ppm ) falls into the optimum for green house irrigation water ... by at least some standards your water is moderately hard... Not the most soft water or very hard like my water.

"Should I or should I not include magnesium in the water?"

Thats your call ... if you think the Magnesium is a factor in flowering or the Sulphate is a factor then add it .. if not .. don't. It's your experiment .. I don't work with Lavender don't know one way or the other.

Although if you are doing a lot of watering you may consider the SAR ratio ..

Be careful hard water can cause spotting on leaves and clog irrigation so don't over do it ... test a few plants at a time.

"You mentioned that you water is very hard...300ppm...do you use them on your plants?"

LOL ... don't have much choice ... and the soil is worse ... I'd rather have your water !!

We get by with the plants that we grow and good cultivation practices.

Good Day ...

Hello Joyce ...

Given that you have 100 ppm Ca in your water already ... you need to add 1 to 2 grams per liter of the product you listed .. that will give you a total of 140 to 180 ppm Ca .. 120 - 240 ppm Mg ... looks like 1 to 1 1/2 grams per liter would keep you in the upper range.

The Sodium will be in an OK range .. 40 to 80 ppm. Remember though to water deeply with a little extra to keep your salt level down in the root zone. Also watch your Potassium fertilization since you will have it also in your irrigation water.

I think if you are growing these plants in pots it will be easy to keep track of but in the ground things get a bit more involved.

Good Day ...

Hello Mohave Kid!

Yup I went to the aquarium store and bought myself a bottle of Chiclid Lake salt and a bottle of Malawi Victoria buffer. It says on the bottle that the Malawi/Victoria Buffer is a blend of carbonate salts designed to enhance the natural environment of cichlids by increasing hardness, buffer capacity, and pH. It is formulated to maintain a pH of 7.8Â8.4. For optimum replication of the Malawi/Victoria environment, use with Cichlid Lake SaltÂ. I also got myself a KH/GH test kit to check the hardness of my water after adding these salts in and I got 179ppm.which I think will do for now.... I am just keeping my fingers crossed that my lavenders will start blooming for me and I will definitely keep you posted as to how my lavenders are doing. Thank you once again and have a great weekend!

Frankly, I doubt very much that the non-flowering of your lavender is due to the hardness, or lack thereof, of your water.

More likely it's a function of the environment.

Lavender requires well-drained soil, maximum amount of sunlight, and minimal -- if any -- fertilizer. In general, the native habitat is poor soil in ddry, hilly areas.

Beyond that, high humidity and lots of rain may be causing problems -- rotting of stem tips, thus also flower buds.

Hey Mohave Kid and Jean.

Guess what happened to the lavenders after I fed them the home made hard water?? One of the lavenders have started putting out buds for me!! YAY! Thannks a million for your help Mohave Kiddo!

Wow ... Good News LOL ...

Good Day ...

You wrote:
"Guess what happened to the lavenders after I fed them the home made hard water?? One of the lavenders have started putting out buds for me!"

If they budded that rapidly, they would have done it without the "help."

As it turns out, flower buds (on all plants) are forming long before folks can see any evidence. When a remedy is applied, then buds apppear within a week or so, those buds were present the long beofre the remedy was added.

Guys just go on the internet and search you idiots.

Douche bags !

Hey bobby:

OK I went "on the Internet" and searched idiots Douche bags ! and it directed me to Bobby bobyduel@gmai.com, i.e. your post.

Immaturity and flames. Not a nice combination.

Hi. I too want to know this because i have a pet fish and it needs to be in hard water and i don't have hard water.