Time to Water Test?
With summer comes dryer conditions and the water table level can fluctuate. This may lead to a higher concentration of solutes in the irrigation water. For example, a number of years ago when I was at Iowa State University, we found that alkalinity concentrations were higher in the irrigation water in the summer than in the winter. This may be important and influence acid injection rates used to neutralize alkalinity If the difference is large enough. In addition, if your water supply has elevated micronutrient, sodium, or chloride concentrations, it is a good idea to know how high they may go.
To determine how your water quality is changing, the summer may be a good time to submit a water sample for analysis.
Sampling details can be found at:
https://www.e-gro.org/pdf/2021-10-09.pdf
Brian Whipker
Professor, Horticulture, North Carolina State UniversityBrian E. Whipker is a professor of floriculture at North Carolina State University. He has an appointment split between extension and research, but also teaches the graduate level plant nutrition course at NC State. His specialization is plant nutrition, plant growth regulators, and problem diagnostics. He brings over 30 year of experience in diagnosing grower plant problems.
