Self-watering pots with leca

[Roberta]

A thought with regard to hard water (in semi-hydro or just general watering)... While fertilizers that are designed to be used with tap water have extra phosphorous (as phosphoric acid) to lower pH, with hard water with lots of calcium bicarbonate, that amount of acidity doesn't come even close to adjusting the pH of the fertilizer solution - it resolutely stays close to 8. I found that it took about a 1/2 tablespoon of vinegar per gallon to get the pH down to about 6.5. That bit of vinegar just puts the pH into the optimum range, and may also help prevent buildup of hard-water scale on the medium.