Chloramine

OK I just realized yesterday that the last 7-8 months or so I've been watering incorrectly.

I'm a soil grower and I have been using nice clean tap water and preparing it (minus nutes) 48 hrs ahead of use!

But with me being a nubie I was putting the cap on the gallon jugs as soon as I was done prepping the water, therefore not allowing the "chlorine" to evaporate!

When I was told about the 24-48 hour thing, the person who told me said it was about light penetration and time, and what these did together was good for the water.

Now I find out it's about letting chlorine escape from the water!!! so the whole time I may have just as well been using water straight from the tap and the funny thing is, is that my grows have mostly ended up great! (minus some blackberry that hermied, but I blame the strain for that)

So I started investigating the 24-48 hr "theory" and have come to a realization. I believe it was a legitimate point once but unfortunately not any longer!

In denver and the surrounding metro areas, we have something called "chloramine" which in fact DOES NOT EVAPORATE! period!! so in reality the 24-48 hr "theory" is just that! a theory only!

So is the 24-48hr storing unnecessary? or is there other reasons for letting the water sit out?thanks.

The chlorine and chloramine kill the beneficial bacteria. It makes a difference but most of the time not noticeable in the big picture imo

you answered your own question really, we let ours sit out to evaporate the chlorine but as you stated your water supplier uses chloramine which mill not evaporate. so it looks like you didnt mess up after all. now saying that i don`t know what effect the levels of chloramine are going to have on your plants, but as daisy said the levels are quite small.
lu

two different products, all you have to do is smell the water if it smells like chlorine than it is if there is no or a very faint smell chlormines. Leaving the chlorine water to sit out for 48 hours in a pail or something that has a large surface area will off gas the chlorine. The only way to get rid of chlormines is with a carbon filter (yes britta will work) I believe Denver has been using chlormines since 1940's, they say it will not damage plants and there are million's of people with plants in there homes who will agree.

QUOTE=woodsmaneh!;5621872]two different products, all you have to do is smell the water if it smells like chlorine than it is if there is no or a very faint smell chlormines. Leaving the chlorine water to sit out for 48 hours in a pail or something that has a large surface area will off gas the chlorine. The only way to get rid of chlormines is with a carbon filter (yes britta will work) I believe Denver has been using chlormines since 1940's, they say it will not damage plants and there are million's of people with plants in there homes who will agree.[/QUOTE]

So because of chlormine, this whole time there's been no need for letting the water sit out! the old saying is as true now as ever "you learn something new everyday"

There are aquarium tablets that will neutralize both. If it's safe for fish and aquarium plants prolly ok for our needs

just make sure you read the small print on any aquarium products you buy for our needs. some of them strip too much from the water, essential elements that are needed for out plants.

I use the aquarium drops to remove chloramines (1 drop/gallon), for SOME stuff, like brewing AACTs and the like.

Everything else usually just gets tap water and has been for 35+ years, with no ill effects. My chloramine level is 3PPM. Big woo.

It's not a myth, but the truth has been stretched to absurd lengths on the internet. Of course chlorine will kill the micro herd, if you are using pool water. But tap? Not so much. People have been using tap for years with good results as you yourself noted.

All this bleating that your plants and or micro herd will fall over dead if you even say the word chlorine near them is just that, bleating, by people who have very little growing or organic experience. Not just mmj, but growing in general.

LOL, tell a gardener that he/she must de-chlorinate 150+ gallons of water 2-3x per week and see what the response is. I'll bet it's two words and the second one being you!

BTW, those aquarium drops. If they don't harm delicate fish, there is no way they will hurt mj.

Chlorine is also an essential trace element for mj. Of course, not much, but it IS needed.

Wet

not all the stuff for aquariums is safe for plants, i have looked into it as i was having trouble when using proper ph 6.5, which is in an aquarium product. it states in the small print that its not to be used for any aquarium plants, the reason behind this is because that stuff neutralizes all the heavy metals out of the water, these metals include manganese, zinc and iron among other things.
so check the other ones on the market or as wet dog says which i agree with is all this chlorine stuff is going a it too far, the plants can tolerate small doses of chlorine and actually need it. the levels in the water are very small but with all things check your own water y getting i touch with your service provider and they have to tell you by law how much chlorine, chloramine they are putting into it..
lu

Here is a tidbit told to me by a commercial nurseryman very well versed in organics.

Told me that if you add a small amount of organic matter to a bucket of chloramine treated water, the chloramine will react with it, change to ?? (chlorine?) and gas off.

I have no way to test or prove or disprove this and am just passing the tidbit along.

Most of my buckets on the deck (7-5gal), have some sort of organic matter in them, bits of potting mix, EWC, whatever and my cats will drink from them before using the fresh tap in their water dish.

Wet

Free chlorine is highly reactive, chloramine is more stable but still has some tendency to react with organic and inorganic compounds and form byproducts which are toxic such as chloroform (chlorocarbons) and trihalomethanes, volatile organic compounds. Note that chloramine is used as a secondary disinfected, meaning they use it in conjunction with free chlorine. Not all municipalities use chloramine, but it is becoming more prevalent; you should be able to find out easily enough whether they use it in your area by looking on your cities water dept. website or checking your annual water quality report. They usually mail every home something that outlines the various characteristics of the municipal drinking supply at least once a year (water report).

If your tap water had a good amount of chloramine in it, it will actually show a green tint. You could check by filling up a clean white bucket with tap water. Of course, you can also sort of smell the amount of chlorine in tap water.

yetibear said:

OK I just realized yesterday that the last 7-8 months or so I've been watering incorrectly.

I'm a soil grower and I have been using nice clean tap water and preparing it (minus nutes) 48 hrs ahead of use!

But with me being a nubie I was putting the cap on the gallon jugs as soon as I was done prepping the water, therefore not allowing the "chlorine" to evaporate!

When I was told about the 24-48 hour thing, the person who told me said it was about light penetration and time, and what these did together was good for the water.

Now I find out it's about letting chlorine escape from the water!!! so the whole time I may have just as well been using water straight from the tap and the funny thing is, is that my grows have mostly ended up great! (minus some blackberry that hermied, but I blame the strain for that)

So I started investigating the 24-48 hr "theory" and have come to a realization. I believe it was a legitimate point once but unfortunately not any longer!

In denver and the surrounding metro areas, we have something called "chloramine" which in fact DOES NOT EVAPORATE! period!! so in reality the 24-48 hr "theory" is just that! a theory only!

So is the 24-48hr storing unnecessary? or is there other reasons for letting the water sit out?thanks.

Click to expand...

Are you using beneficials??

will plants still produce good bud with chloramine treated water? sure. are you going to optimize your yield by using it? NO. I got sick of fillin up 5 gal jugs at the water hut so i sprang for a reverse osmosis filter (180 at tx hydro) and I'm stoked. you can grow good weed with tap water but your kicking yourself in the nuts on yield if you're organic all the way, but then scrimp on water.

If yer organic all the way, RO or Distilled is about the worst water you can use, especially in organic soil. It's *dead* water by itself and until something is added back in, useless. No ions for exchange and such.

RO is great for hydro, where you add everything, but not for organics where those minerals are needed.

And no, I'm not going to get in a big pissing match over this and cite references and stuff. The science is out there if anyone cares to look, I'm just stating the bottom line so to speak.

Wet

CHLORINE AND CHLORAMINE WILL NOT HURT YOUR PLANTS. Thats about it. They will kill your beneficials if you are using any.
All the big, plump, juicy hydro veggies that you get at your supermarket are grown with chlorine in the nutrient solution. All the major commercial greenhouses use it en mass because it is the most effective deterrent to pythium and other bad bacteria and it is one of the plants required micro nutrients.

I wouldnt worry about the chemicals in your water unless your plants are having problems. I would still let the water sit for a couple of days just to keep it at room temperature. I just watered my plants with some water I didn't let sit out & I guess the water was too cold for the girls because they got shocked. It made me nervous because they really got droopy fast. lesson learned, always let it sit for a couple of days, just be sure to shake the water before feeding to reoxygenate it again or keep an airstone in your main water jug to keep fresh.