Verified FBN Member (CA)

Agronomy

How do I alleviate the effects of salinity in irrigation water?

Does anyone have any experience using fulvic or humic acid to alleviate the affects of salinity? Or any other product? I will be growing baby lima beans drip irrigated. Sandy ground. Irrigation well water has ec. value of 1.6. Sodium and Chloride are the culprits. I'm hoping to inject something periodically through drip tape to alleviate the effects of salts.

3

8


Verified FBN Member (UT)

You need to flush the salt out of the soil and then with salty irrigation water you will need to continue to flush it out over the coming years. Tile drainage and plenty of water to flush the salt down to the drains is the answer. If you continue to have problems with sodium clinging to the cation exchange you may need to apply gypsum and then again plenty of water to flush the sodium out to the drains. The gypsum floods the soil with calcium that can kick the sodium out so it can be flushed. I don’t know where you are in CA, I would guess you are in one of the drier areas. In my area of Northern Utah our soils were salty when they started irrigating. With the addition of irrigation water it brought the salt to the surface all the more because the water had no where to go but evap from the surface. So they started putting in tile drains and while they waited for the salt to work its way out they grew salt tolerant crops like barley and sugar beets. Now we can grow almost anything.

Join Our Community!

This comment section is reserved for FBN members only.

If you're new, please create an account to view, reply to existing comments, or add new ones.

Copyright © 2014 - 2025 Farmer's Business Network, Inc. All rights Reserved. The sprout logo, Farmers First flag logo, "Farmers Business Network," "FBN," "FBN Direct," "F2F," "F2F Genetics Network," "Blue River", and "Farmers First" are registered trademarks of Farmer's Business Network, Inc. or its affiliates. "Gradable Carbon" is a trademark of Gradable LLC. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. *Fees may apply for certain product and service offerings other than FBN membership. Terms and conditions apply. Products sold or distributed through FBN Direct are offered by FBN Inputs, LLC and are available only in states where FBN Inputs, LLC is licensed and where those products are registered for sale or use, if applicable. Please check with your local extension service to ensure registration status. Grain market advisory services are offered by FBN CM LLC and are only available where FBN CM LLC is licensed. FBN Brokerage services are offered by FBN BR LLC, dba FBN Market Advisory - NFA ID: 0508695. Testimonials are not indicative of future performance or success; prices and savings may vary. FBN merchandise provided in recognition of testimonials.

FBN's Flag Logo