super quick question please just a quick answer

[asaph]

forget the ro water if your growing in soil. Just let your tap water sit out for 24 hours before using this will bring the ph down and the chlorine will evaporate. Tap water has beneficial minerals in it. RO water takes these out. RO water will work but why pay more for something not as good as your tap at home?

well first, I don't use soil I use coco. only use soil in 3 pots as a control group.
second and more important - while the tap water might have some beneficial minerals, I don't know what they are - and so they are counterproductive for me, if I need to water seedlings, or want to flush my medium.

I live in an area of very hard water, ppm is about 600, that is very high. it may not prove detrimental to some plants, but for an inexperienced grower such as myself this can be critical don't you think?

 

[collective gardener]

well first, I don't use soil I use coco. only use soil in 3 pots as a control group.
second and more important - while the tap water might have some beneficial minerals, I don't know what they are - and so they are counterproductive for me, if I need to water seedlings, or want to flush my medium.

I live in an area of very hard water, ppm is about 600, that is very high. it may not prove detrimental to some plants, but for an inexperienced grower such as myself this can be critical don't you think?

If you have any long term growing plans, shell out the $200 for an RO unit. It's the only way to knoe exactly whats in your water. We use RO water and coco. The great thing is, you can feed your plants less than 1000ppm and still be gettingample nutes because it's ALL balanced nutrients. If you're starting with 600 and bring it up to 1000, you're only getting 400 ppm of the exact nute formula you need. This means you probably can't get enough N into the mix without running dangerous ppm levels. Your C and Mag will also be way too high with 600 ppm tap. Get the RO unit.

https://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/407048-20-000-watt-medical-grow.html

 

[asaph]

If you have any long term growing plans, shell out the $200 for an RO unit. It's the only way to knoe exactly whats in your water. We use RO water and coco. The great thing is, you can feed your plants less than 1000ppm and still be gettingample nutes because it's ALL balanced nutrients. If you're starting with 600 and bring it up to 1000, you're only getting 400 ppm of the exact nute formula you need. This means you probably can't get enough N into the mix without running dangerous ppm levels. Your C and Mag will also be way too high with 600 ppm tap. Get the RO unit.

https://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/407048-20-000-watt-medical-grow.html

hmmm. what your saying makes a lot of sense. I quite agree. but in the mean time, like for a couple of days, am i damaging my tiny seedlings with un-RO water? I also use coco, hand watered

 

[collective gardener]

hmmm. what your saying makes a lot of sense. I quite agree. but in the mean time, like for a couple of days, am i damaging my tiny seedlings with un-RO water? I also use coco, hand watered

The hard water may or may not be damaging your plants, but it's definately slowing growth. There's no bottled water at the store where you live? Can you test the PH and TDS of your rain water? I'm thinking if the numbers are alright, you could boil it.

 

[asaph]

so yeah i got the ph taken care of if i let the chloride vaporize cuz it destabilizes ph. but once it's out i can lower the ph.
tds is 600ppm like i said... i could boil it but it won't take the minerals away, same goes for mineral water no? it may be chlorine free but probably high on ppm (though maybe not as much as the tap water is)

 

[WeedFreak78]

Get a fish tank air pump with air stone, fill up jugs with water and drop the airstones in. This will speed up the process of removing the chlorine-a couple hrs vs.24+ hrs. Personally I'd use the rain water-but aerate it like I said-aerating it will stop/kill the bad (anerobic?) bacteria and promote good (aerobic?) bacteria, espaecially if there is any organic material in the water-search "compost teas" kinda the same thing If your indoors dont use the rain, get RO/spring water, dont want to take a chance of contaminating your grow with possible bugs that might have larve in the water.

 

[asaph]

Get a fish tank air pump with air stone, fill up jugs with water and drop the airstones in. This will speed up the process of removing the chlorine-a couple hrs vs.24+ hrs. Personally I'd use the rain water-but aerate it like I said-aerating it will stop/kill the bad (anerobic?) bacteria and promote good (aerobic?) bacteria, espaecially if there is any organic material in the water-search "compost teas" kinda the same thing If your indoors dont use the rain, get RO/spring water, dont want to take a chance of contaminating your grow with possible bugs that might have larve in the water.

yeah, i actually smelled it today, and used it to water one of the new pots for the seedling. for 3 other pots, I used mineral water which is said in its commercial to be extra high on calcium :\

i didn't see any organic material there, a bit of soil that spilled in it, much dust in it for sure (was a sand storm the other day). hope no contamination, but if it is, it's just one pot.

 

[collective gardener]

so yeah i got the ph taken care of if i let the chloride vaporize cuz it destabilizes ph. but once it's out i can lower the ph.
tds is 600ppm like i said... i could boil it but it won't take the minerals away, same goes for mineral water no? it may be chlorine free but probably high on ppm (though maybe not as much as the tap water is)

I was speaking of the RAIN water.

 

[asaph]

oh. it has a ph of 7.8 (aint that strange??? but i've read that arid places are like that)
and 220 ppm (it was actually about 20 at first)

 

[collective gardener]

oh. it has a ph of 7.8 (aint that strange??? but i've read that arid places are like that)
and 220 ppm (it was actually about 20 at first)

Could you boil it and then add some PH down? 220ppm is FAR better than the 600 tap.

 

[asaph]

Could you boil it and then add some PH down? 220ppm is FAR better than the 600 tap.

yes, i'll do that

thank you very much!

i still need to get an RO. It hardly ever rains here, and i'm using coco.
how does RO work?
i understand it has a reservoir? and i can adjust its ph?

 

[collective gardener]

yes, i'll do that

thank you very much!

i still need to get an RO. It hardly ever rains here, and i'm using coco.
how does RO work?
i understand it has a reservoir? and i can adjust its ph?

It's just a filter that removes almost all solids. My tap water goes in at 400 and comes out 20. The PH is near 7. You just add nutes and adjust PH as needed. It's a deam to work with. If you mix 1000ppm nutrients...you are getting 1000ppm of the nutrient mix. As opposed to 400ppm tap water, where 1000ppm mixed is 600ppm of balanced nutrients and 400ppm of ????

 

[toquer]

hell i'm by the beach and my tap water is in excess of 850ppm at almost all times and about ph of 8 to 8.2. they say it's the natural influence. yeah water ur plants with that and FFOF and watch them die in veg!! but when it rains...i get every pot, pan, bucket, container, etc... and i collect every drop i can. got 3 55 gallon drums to hold it and use it until the next rain storm. airstones and peroxide, the only way to keep water pure in outdoor storage in my opinion.

 

[asaph]

hell i'm by the beach and my tap water is in excess of 850ppm at almost all times and about ph of 8 to 8.2. they say it's the natural influence. yeah water ur plants with that and FFOF and watch them die in veg!! but when it rains...i get every pot, pan, bucket, container, etc... and i collect every drop i can. got 3 55 gallon drums to hold it and use it until the next rain storm. airstones and peroxide, the only way to keep water pure in outdoor storage in my opinion.

yep, same here, quite the same. except we don't get rain AT ALL from may till october so that option is ruled out now. this week however should see much rainfall