51cg

I've just purchased a dosatron to reduce the ph of my water from the 8.0-8.3 range. I'm wanting to install multiple rachio hose timers AFTER the unit so that I can have corrected water go to multiple zones. I plan on using "ph down" which is a diluted form of phosphoric acid. It will again be diluted by the dosatron.?

My question is this: will the acid be diluted sufficiently so that it will not destroy my rachio hose valve timers? If I put the timer before the dosatron I'll end up with only one watering zone.

Thanx!

Welcome to the forum dear bonsai enthusiast. Please start with introducing yourself.

I have some experience with dosing pumps and dosatron is by far the most expensive cheap crap I have ever tried. I do not recomend anyone in any aplication to use this worthless s××t.

But the good news is that in the bonsai hobby we never need dosing pumps. We water our trees with tap or rainwater by watering can. It is very enjoyable. You should try it. Putting more effort into the trees and less on gadgets is the way to success in this hobby.

Tropfrog, thanx for answering. I've been doing what you suggest for years. I MUST get my ph reduced to have the quality trees that I want. I'm looking for an answer to my specific question.

What trees do you have? Please share a photo.

Working with acids is very risky. They break down the buffering system. Ph drops very slowly until the buffer is finished and then it drops to the abyss by just a few drops. You will need a two point calibrated ph controller and you will need to calibrate at least once per week. Some people find that fun, but it has nothing to do with the bonsai hobby really. You start your post with stating that you recently purshased the unit. I recomend that you ask the seller for technical advises regarding the units they sell and stick to bonsai related topics in a bonsai forum.

here are some more reliable methods for soft water:

If it rains where you are I would sugest colect rain water. It has no buffer at all and no ph adjustment is needed.

If it does not rain where you are get yourself a reverse osmosis unit. If you have very hard water you will need one that can be back flushed.

But the best advice I can give is to focus on species that can be grown in alkaline conditions. That is most species so it is really not that limiting.

Most tap waters around me have temporary bufferts in them. That is better for the pipes and standardized all over Europe. My tap water is also above ph 8. But there is very low permanent buffer, kh 2,5 dh and low gh 3 dh. It works perfect even on azaleas.


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Tropfrog,?I absolutely LOVE the way you think about bonsai and how to care for them. Your approach feels very grounded and connected to the spirit of bonsai itself.

A lot of Bonsaipractitioners are using Dosatron (or knockoffs) to affect ph and/or to fertilize, thus my coming here to ask my question. I'm about to install my unit, and am simply hoping that someone here may have had experience installing hose timers with a dosing injector.

That is what I call a false statement. It is simply not true. I have been in this hobby for 10 years. I have visited around 50 different bonsai events and talked to 100s of people in the hobby. I have watched several 100s of bonsai related videos, read some 20 books on the topic. Noone have ever discussed dosing pumps or even mentioned a need for it.

My experience with dosing pumps is from my professional life and from other hobbies where it is needed. Believe me when I say. Dosatron is the worst crap on the market. Expensive, unreliable dosing and high failure rates. If you really want to do acid dosing, look for quality products that can deliver performance. Not that piece of junk. If you have not yet installed it, there may still be an oportunitie to return it for refund.

Where are you located and what is the water parameters of your tap water?

I get it - you don't like dosatron, and don't have an answer to my question. Thanx for trying. Maybe someone else here is using them and can chime in.

No, nobody here use dosing pumps. Not dosatron, not any other brand.

Go talk to the dealer that sold you the equipment.