HERE'S A GOOD WATER QUESTION!!

az2000

Well-Known Member
You wanna add calmag when using bottled or distilled water.
That's popular, but not really necessary. If using pure water (low PPM) because the tap water is high in PPMs, just add enough tap to the pure water to get a starting 150ppm. There could be rare conditions where the tap water's minerals are so imbalanced that it wouldn't be suitable even to provide those base 150ppm. At that point, just use epsom salt and gypsum to replace some minerals.

I don't see any reason to use a "calmag" product except in hydro. It's a convenience in soil, but it always acidified my nutrient mix, adding to my need to pH my nutrient mix (which adds more unnecessary salts to the soil, leading to buildup, etc.). I felt like getting out of the Cult of Calmag was a necessary step to stop pHing my nutrients.
 

churchhaze

Well-Known Member
So you don't want to add unnecessary salts, yet you suggest adding 2 unnecessary salts. That really adds up. Oh? The name epsom salt wasn't a dead giveaway to you?

The sulfate you're adding is unnecessary, even in soil. Why not just use limestone or super phosphate (monocalcium phosphate)? Oh right, it's because you bought a bag of gypsum already, therefore everyone else should get a bag too. (even though their soil/nutrients have enough sulfur in it already)
 

sunny747

Well-Known Member
One thing that would be nice to know is the TDS of the spring water. TDS meters are under $15. It's just a small precaution and helps with keeping track of how much nutes you are giving. If the TDS of the spring water was off the charts then that would be a clue and something to be addressed.

I normally mix my RO water with a little tap water to get TDS around 150 ppm. Then I add nutes or use for plain watering.

As stated PH in soil is something that you may mess with and actually make things worse. I generally gave up on Ph'ing. It's something I am conscious of, but I don't give it too much attention.

If you ever switch to coco or hempy then definitely PH.

Any ideas what your problem might be right now? What are the symptoms?
 
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