Pretty simple question.. does nature flush with distilled water? No. Tap water is fine as long as the PH and ECC are within acceptable range. Don't waste your money.
thanks so much for your input, it really helps with my decision making brother. thanks a lot!
how do you think rain reaches the sky???? It is evaporated, what is
distilled water? Evaporated water collected in a different recepticle....
So Yes nature in fact does use distilled water...I'm not saying tapwater
isn't ok to use, but that is just sophomoric.
i dont want to disrespect anyone. the reason why i used regular tap, and didnt let it sit, my whole grow is simple. the 30 yrs experience hydro shop owner told me that you need the minerals in tap water, cal and mag. and he doesn't feel the chlorine hurts his plants. i know there's you guys out there that use r/o and distilled, and i think you guys rock! but i guess what im saying is i haven't seen any real proof that tap ruined my grow, call me an idiot, but my ladies look amazing to me!
shrubs, you are the man. im not as technical as you man, but i look up to your dedication to your craft. slowly my grows will take on more and more characteristics of your grows, i strive to have be as "clean as you!"
this grow will be flushed with stale tap water, next grow i will have a r/o sytem for sure!
Drell, you can acquire used R.O machines at local fish stores, Ive seen
pretty quality R/O's for under $80.00, ya just need to purchase new membranes
and filters for it, then they are good as new.
thanks man, i gotta look more into this!
Don't know that we want to use Drella's grow for this debate, but rainfall is quite far from distilled. You're quite right that it goes up as distilled, but it doesn't come down that way at all. The natural pH of rain and snow is 5.7 dictated by chemical balance with CO2, forming carbonic acid. That's in pre-human times - now, atmospheric pollutants make it typically less than that -- low 5's down to low 4's if you're the next state over from a coal plant. We have ameliorated, but not solved, the problem of acid rain.
Since distilled is so cheap, I would suggest going with the peace of mind it buys. That way, you can just take it off the mental checklist. But that's probably all you're buying.
kreigs, your scientific mind scares me, at the same time it intrigues me. thanks so much for the input, it really means a lot. im gonna try tap this time, and distilled/r/o, next time. i will see if i can "taste" the difference, we'll see!
so far from wat ive seen id agree theres def two types of growers out there, distilled/RO and tapwater users. for my outdoor grow when i started my clones off under the T5 indoor i never Phd my water and just used tap water and never had issues. when i transplANTED outdoors i never had an issue either. but now that i started new clones new strain indoor same setup i saw ph issues cuz my tap water was bad (8.5 with like 500ppm) so IMO it mite just depend on the strain to see how it reacts. cuz i used to not care about ph in my water and ppm but now that im dealin with hydro shit im seeing its more important then i thought. but all depends on ur budget as well. i have been shoppin for an RO system as well. new is like $300-1200 depending on quality and gal/hr ratio. id think buyin a used one and gettin new filters membranes etc is a good route if ure on a budget. hope this helps
thanks boom, we're both still trying to dial it in, but soon we'll be able to sit back and enjoy the greenery! maybe sooner than we think. you've mastered the outdoor, now its time to tackle your indoor!
just wanted to touch on this a little also...
the last storm we had i collected rain water to test it with my new meter and the ph was like 7 sumthing and around 200ppm. RO and distilled water is still a better route then rain water (even tho rain can be free) but here in socal we dont get all that much rain usually but we do have a storm coming this week. idk if ure thinkin of catchin a rez full of rain but goodluck drell!
i might have to catch some of this upcoming rain water!
Kinda sorta but you still have to Ph your water for optimal results. Not that it won't grow otherwise, but this is the best approach as it keeps your substrate at a constant Ph rather than fluctuating or continually dropping. In nature maybe the soil does buffer the water's Ph everytime since there's so much more soil to spread things out across. But when you're growing in <= 2 gallon containers I'm pretty sure that little amount of medium will quickly get saturated with your salty solution at whatever Ph it is and also quickly adopt the new Ph as well. Plus, you yourself could drink tap water all day long and it's not going to kill ya or anything, but if you had the option, wouldn't you rather consume pure fresh clean water with no chemicals? I'm sure the plants would too, and I'm sure that their overall heath would be better with distilled rather than tap. And speaking of water with no chemicals, not that this really makes a difference but all municipal water sources are flooded with trace amounts of chemicals leftover from prescription drugs being secreted out of the human body via urination. I read a report that said they found methamphetamine in every single municipal water source on the west coast except 2. And my guess is they're prob in Alaska. And that's on top of whatever other chemicals that they can't get out of the water from other sources of pollution. lol Just food for thought. Whatever you water into your plants, they soak up and retain trace amounts of. That's why cannabis is the best option for treating large areas polluted with radiation and other bad chemicals that have leached into the soil. All I know is that I know what's going into MY soil.
thanks so much DC, great advice, and i would want pure water to drink as well. the only thing that drives me crazy is ive been using tap this whole time, and my plants look like this. could the plants be hiding something in the smoke, are they gonna taste like crap? we'll see, ill defn let you guys know! thanks so much bro!
I just don't see the point of distilled water. Another expense for little return. If tap works for you I say stick with it. That was my choice anyhow and I wouldn't go back and change it even now. KISS always applies. GL, I know you're counting the days by now.
i am counting, and its nice to count on your help SG! good luck to you as well, im sure youll tune in tomorrow for the flush update pics, boy have they changed!
I'm still not completely sold on flushing,but this is the explanation that makes most sense to me.(It's by DJ Short,I just copied and pasted.
The most important, and perhaps the most simple, aspect to consider involves the last two to three weeks of the bud cycle ? the last two to three weeks of the plant's life prior to harvest. It is during this time that absolutely NO additives, other than pure water, be given to the plant. This is especially important if you have been using chemical fertilizers.
This is the time when the bulk of the final, "useable" part of the plant is produced. As you may well already know, there are over four hundred separate chemicals associated with cannabis and her effects. It is during the final bud-building stage that most of these chemicals are produced. Thus, it is very important to give the plant as much pure water as possible during this crucial period. I like to remember it as the "rinse" and "flush" cycle. Simply remember to give the plants only water for the last two to three weeks in order to rinse and flush them clean. This is to purge unwanted impurities from the plant.
some great advice, from a great man! thanks so much H! it really helps having your opinion on this. i know we both are trying for a onw week flush, which really for me will be a legit flush, and wait till it dries to chop, we'll see. its funny because deep down i think well be just fine with our methods!
On another note,that querkle is looking bomb.It looks pretty close and from what I've read querkle is an 8 weeker.
A friend and I are probably gonna order the deep purple pretty soon here.It's purple urkle backcrossed with purple urkle x querkle,from the pics they show it's name suits it very well.
thats just great bro, i would defn give you a clone of her, she's just great! i love your purps, and am looking forward to your future grows!
im going to flush them tomorrow with the 30 gal of tap i let sit for two days in big tupperwares in my bathroom.
the method of flush i will use is from my very trusted friend Golden Ganga!
"Flushing correct. Pour in 1-2 gallons of water and wait 20 mins for it to break down the salts, now flush out the salts with 3-5 gallons of water, now wait 20 mins for all that to leave, make sure you have a good gdrain and smowhere for the water to go. Now flush with 1 Gallon water with 4 tbl molasses and feed molasses only after that."
i will be using general hydroponics floranectar, it will be my first time. im gonna start using it way earlier next grow.
thank you to everyone for the support, i am touched beyond words. it really feels like a bunch of great minds here, sharing a journey together, and i wouldn't want it any other way!
