Rick
Well-Known Member
My tap water has rather low dH-levels, 2.9 - 3.1, but pretty high pH-levels, 7.8 - 8.4. Conductivity are 15 - 17 mSm (which is pretty low for tap water I've heard).
Oh, BTW, what does TDS stand for?
TDS stands for total dissolved solids (salts).
converting your dH and conductivity levels to what I use in TN, your hardness is 53.5 mg/L as CaCO3, which is soft by EPA standards. But double check your conductivity units. If it really is mSm and not micro (uSm) then your conductivity is about 16000 uSm. For comparison my well water straight up has a conductivity of maybe 600 - 800uSm. And I dilute my well water for final conductivity around 50-80 uSm.
Also the pH of around 8.0 with that low hardness could indicate a fairly high alkalinity (which is the big driver for ammonia, rather than nitrate use in K lite). Do you have an alkalinity value?
Also have you been addling lime or other high carbonate materials to your potting mix?
To have a low hardness and high conductivity would indicate a high amount of monvalent (sodium or potassium) salt in your system.
Do you use a water softener at your house?
Really need to get a better handle on your water chemistry.