Took me 4 months to figure out why my tomato plants kept dying, and it was a $3 fix
I had 6 heirloom plants in raised beds behind the garage in Tucson and every single one turned yellow and croaked by July. I was watering deep every other day, testing the soil, even bought a $40 moisture meter. Turned out my drip emitters were clogged with hard water scale and the plants were basically getting a sip every 3 days. Swapped in new emitters and ran vinegar through the lines once a month, and this year I'm drowning in San Marzanos. Anyone else fight with drip lines in hard water areas, or is it just me?
The hard water scale thing hit home for me but with my coffee maker, not the garden. Got tired of descaling that thing every few weeks so now I just fill jugs from my mom's place when I visit. She thinks I'm weird but the coffee tastes better.