Nick Flax brings real-world experience and expertise to his role helping North American growers navigate the challenges that come when producing a wide range of crops throughout all seasons.

Case Studies, Plant Health
Case Study: Understanding Water Quality By Nick Flax, Ball Seed Technical Services Specialist

{Sponsored} Every season, growers ask me questions related to “problem crops” that they struggle with each year. In almost every case, my first question is, “Do you have a recent irrigation water analysis?” High- and low-pH-loving crops are easy targets to blame when things “just don’t look right,” but improperly managed water quality is ultimately the culprit for many of these issues.

Water quality impacts how every grower produces crops. Understanding water quality is critical to selecting appropriate fertilizers and growing media amendments, controlling the availability of mineral nutrients applied to your crops, and ensuring optimal efficacy of plant growth regulator and pesticide applications.

Mineral nutrient deficiencies and toxicities are common results when poor water quality isn’t addressed, and the need to correct issues like these during production is never a good approach. Understanding what’s in your water before the season starts will guide management decisions much more effectively.

I remind growers I work with that water tests are not created equal. When possible, submit a water sample to a lab that provides agricultural water quality testing — NOT standard drinking water quality tests. Depending on the lab, specific categories such as “greenhouse/nursery” water testing may be available. Whenever possible, choose the type of water test that is most directly applicable to what you do.

Agricultural/greenhouse water tests are far superior to standard drinking water tests. These include alkalinity, pH, most macro- and micronutrient concentrations, nitrate and ammonium levels, electrical conductivity (EC; sometimes TDS) and sodium adsorption ratio. This broad view of water quality facilitates targeted water management decisions.

Technical Services specialists at Ball Seed provide testing protocol training and analyze results of water quality, pH, EC and many more factors impacting overall plant health.

My advice is always to test your water source(s) at least once per year. Municipal water sources tend to be very stable throughout the year, with some exceptions. An annual agricultural water quality test is strongly encouraged and often provides ample information to stay on top of what’s coming out of your hose. Some providers offer periodic water quality updates free to customers, so it doesn’t hurt to ask for one.

Well water quality tends to change more frequently than municipal water. Testing at least twice per year, once in early winter and again before fall crop production begins, is advisable to react appropriately to seasonal water quality changes. If you have multiple wells on your property, the quality of water coming out of each can be drastically different, so test all wells — even if one of them is only used seasonally or as a backup.

Surface water sources provide the greatest number of challenges to greenhouse growers. Rainfall, snow, drought, temperature fluctuations and unforeseen events that push contaminants into your water source necessitate frequent testing if you irrigate from sources like a river or retention pond. Ideally, water from these types of sources should be tested monthly (at minimum) or more often if severe weather or changes to the water level/flow occur. This applies to municipal water supplies that are fed by surface water sources, too.

Tests are great, but they have little impact if not interpreted and acted upon correctly. If you aren’t 100% confident in your ability to interpret the results and develop a robust management plan, reach out to the experts from Ball Seed Technical Services for assistance.