Water, the big elephant in the room..

Today, i watered my indoor and outdoor cannabis garden, watered my veggie garden, took a shower, took a shit, made rice for dinner, with plenty of water to stay hydrated in sunny Southern California.

I thought to my self, what a privledge I have to be able to use all this water.
My mind then started to think about how much water we as cannabis growers use.
Is it a elephant in the cannabis community that no one talks about?
Hydroponics! Dont get me started..
Keep reading about horror stories of oil or fertilizer spills in outdoor springs/rivers.

Ok enough rambling, lets start a thread on how we can save water, conserve it, and use as little as possible, but at the same time, enough to keep our soil alive.

California is running out of fresh water, shit the world is running out of fresh water. Other then political/human rights solving the issue, we can help reduce the problem.

Fuck the whales. Save the water!

Ways i save water.

Capture RO waste water and keep 24/7 bubble/sun exposure to minimize bad waste in water, use this water for veggie garden and feed animals.

Live cover crops!! Roots help reduce erosion! Huge plus in saving water!

Mulch!!! Been using composted wood chips and straw mixed with botanical herbs.

I have a indoor and outdoor crop, to maximize water effecincy, I pre plan everything before I water, think smart!

I start by collecting a gallon for my sprayer, half gallon is used for indoor, other half is for outdoor. (Bti for outdoor)

As for each plant, I water every other day and been using water trays to help capture excessive water, this water will get sucked up by the fabric pots.

3 gallons for outdoor plants (10-30g pots), I take my time and make sure the water goes nice and easy into the soil!

1 gallon per plant indoor (10g pots) every other day works just fine to keep the soil nice and moist.
I grow leds so less heat, this helps in my situation, i keep fans pointed away from soil, this helps from drying out.

Thats all i can think of for now!
Post your thought and techniques on how to save water!

filtering water cheaper with out wasting water

http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/each-page-drinkable-book-water-filter-removes-deadly-bacteria-157431

i think your thread title is wrong. isn't it the pink or some color elephant in the room, not the size, lol???.....i could be wrong.

We have plenty of water here. Should be more concerned about how much beer we have. Did you know only something like less than 1% of freshwater eventually becomes beer?

Banana444 said:

We have plenty of water here. Should be more concerned about how much beer we have. Did you know only something like less than 1% of freshwater eventually becomes beer?

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that was awesome.

My plants drink better water than i do. I want to get away from R/O water though or at least get my own unit. Might have to break down and buy a ppm unit to test various natural water sources.

a single dripping tap will waste over 2 liters per hour
source (my water meter) ^^

this is considerably more wastage than the usage of water of a large recirculating hydro garden

with 40 to 50 liters per day equivalent of a (dripping tap over 24 hurs) this could grow something like 200 oz

i would suggest if you are concerned about folk wasting water you could help save more water buy encouraging people not to leave taps dripping in their house
rather than hydroponic usage

It's what happens to those hydroponic nutes after the growers are done with them (passive and active hydro). They get washed down the drain. There is going to be back lash about the chemicals home growers are using and dumping into our environment. Our water treatment facilities are already overloaded with sludge. I was just looking at the dead zone that is created in the gulf every year from the pollutant that flow out of the Mississippi river. Disgusting.

Water is extremely precious and I think this is topic we really need to spend more time discussing.

P-

skunkd0c said:

a single dripping tap will waste over 2 liters per hour
source (my water meter) ^^

this is considerably more wastage than the usage of water of a large recirculating hydro garden

with 40 to 50 liters per day equivalent of a (dripping tap over 24 hurs) this could grow something like 200 oz

i would suggest if you are concerned about folk wasting water you could help save more water buy encouraging people not to leave taps dripping in their house
rather than hydroponic usage

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Please, dont make this a hydro vs organics arguement.

I started this thread in the organics for a reason,
Theres no true organics in hydro imo.

Sorry if i offended anyone,
But reguardless, pattanabi is right on about hydro,
There may not be a lot of research behind indoor cannabis hydro because it is in a grey area, however, theres plenty of research that suggest monoculture land is being destroyed by chemcials and pesticides. Bees dissappearing,, frogs dying, and dead zones.

So yes all these issues are connected to water and the importance of water security.

This is exactly what i mean, this topic seems taboo beause we grow a plant that we are willing to go to jail for, and at the same time willing to waste water for it.

Plenty of water here by the great lakes. Of course you have to live in the Midwest so that may rule it out for some people. That being said, I grew up in Texas so I now about water conservation issues. If you have an outdoor garden you should always put a top dressing of mulch or straw on your garden. This keeps it from evaporating out of the soil as fast. Also, water your garden right at sun up. There is less evaporation at that time.

foreverflyhi said:

Today, i watered my indoor and outdoor cannabis garden, watered my veggie garden, took a shower, took a shit, made rice for dinner, with plenty of water to stay hydrated in sunny Southern California.

I thought to my self, what a privledge I have to be able to use all this water.
My mind then started to think about how much water we as cannabis growers use.
Is it a elephant in the cannabis community that no one talks about?
Hydroponics! Dont get me started..
Keep reading about horror stories of oil or fertilizer spills in outdoor springs/rivers.

Ok enough rambling, lets start a thread on how we can save water, conserve it, and use as little as possible, but at the same time, enough to keep our soil alive.

California is running out of fresh water, shit the world is running out of fresh water. Other then political/human rights solving the issue, we can help reduce the problem.

Click to expand...

Why should i care? My water is a fixed price per month, and there is lots and lots to go around in this wonderful little island. If there was a shortage, or even fear of a shortage, other than during drought when reservoirs dry up, then they would not offer an all you can use tarrif.

And don't get you started on hydroponics? Why? My hydroponics used significantly less water than my soil plants. Roughly 40 liters a week for soil compared to 32 a week for hydro.

tip top toker said:

Why should i care? My water is a fixed price per month, and there is lots and lots to go around in this wonderful little island. If there was a shortage, or even fear of a shortage, other than during drought when reservoirs dry up, then they would not offer an all you can use tarrif.

And don't get you started on hydroponics? Why? My hydroponics used significantly less water than my soil plants. Roughly 40 liters a week for soil compared to 32 a week for hydro.

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Cool

foreverflyhi said:

Sorry if i offended anyone,

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no offense taken
i was giving you ideas on how to save water i thought this is what you wanted
you can attack hydroponic growing methods as much as you wish i am happy for others to have their own opinions
it creates a wonderful world of diversity

skunkd0c said:

no offense taken
i was giving you ideas on how to save water i thought this is what you wanted
you can attack hydroponic growing methods as much as you wish i am happy for others to have their own opinions
it creates a wonderful world of diversity

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Im not attacking hydroponic growers, im attacking the chemicals they put in their grows, which then gets dumped to the environment. That destroys water systems.

So all though its cool and all that hydro grower waste less water then organics (doubt it), it does not help the water situation this world is having.

Sad to hear people say why should they care? Especially when they live on a island... Ignorant

This thread wont last long. Elephant in the room will not be noticed lol

I think this thread is great already!

foreverflyhi said:

Im not attacking hydroponic growers, im attacking the chemicals they put in their grows, which then gets dumped to the environment. That destroys water systems.

So all though its cool and all that hydro grower waste less water then organics (doubt it), it does not help the water situation this world is having.

Sad to hear people say why should they care? Especially when they live on a island... Ignorant

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What chemicals being dumped into the environment? 1. Don't lump everyone into one group, not all hydro growers dump water. 2. How does it destroy the water systems? My water goes down the pug, through pipes, and into a treatment plant. 3. Just because you doubt something, does not make it true. I used (let's say wasted, as that's the route you're going for) less using hydro than when in soil with organic nutes.

Especially when they live on an island? It might surprise you but not everywhere is hot and arid. It rains a fuck tonne here most of the year. We are typically lucky to get a month of sunshine. Sorry for your difficulties, but over here we've more water than we know what to do with it.

foreverflyhi said:

Sad to hear people say why should they care? Especially when they live on a island... Ignorant

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its unfortunate you are saddened by other people who have different opinions than yourself
such is life ..

i never suggested hydro uses more or less water than organics ?

the chemical point you make is another subject and is not mentioned in the thread title
why not start another thread "hydro chemical growers polluting our water system" if this is your main point

as i have pointed out the amount of water wasted simply by dripping taps and leaks in regular households all over the world
far exceeds any amount of water used for growing cannabis

its seems you are not completely focused on what point you are attempting to make

is it water you are really concerned about ?
as the thread starter the onus is on you to be clear about the point you wish to make (to be plainly and clearly understood)
so far imo you have failed to do this

tip top toker said:

What chemicals being dumped into the environment? 1. Don't lump everyone into one group, not all hydro growers dump water. 2. How does it destroy the water systems? My water goes down the pug, through pipes, and into a treatment plant. 3. Just because you doubt something, does not make it true. I used (let's say wasted, as that's the route you're going for) less using hydro than when in soil with organic nutes.

Especially when they live on an island? It might surprise you but not everywhere is hot and arid. It rains a fuck tonne here most of the year. We are typically lucky to get a month of sunshine. Sorry for your difficulties, but over here we've more water than we know what to do with it.

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Not sure what island u live on, but lets say u live on Fiji islands, sure theres tons of fresh water, but geuss what, that water is not owned by people, its owned by water corporations, who then takes the rights of the people for profit, the people themselves cant even afford water! Thats just Fiji, theres many many examples of other islands, Hawaii islands being another example.

What does that have to do with you or water? Everything! Connect the dots kid, our water isnt fairly distributed, and if it is, its for a profit.
And btw last time I checked, most islands in the world are in danger because of water problems, waters are rising because fresh water is being melted into the oceans, not long before you have dont have home!

And what chemicals are being dumped? Seriously? Look at the label pick a chemical. Obviously your not well educated in how water is cleaned and distributed, and how it gets dumped back in the ocean. Once agian, plenty of research that points the finger to fertilizer dumping in our fresh water. Its creating dead spots, and killing off wild life.

skunkd0c said:

its unfortunate you are saddened by other people who have different opinions than yourself
such is life ..

i never suggested hydro uses more or less water than organics ?

the chemical point you make is another subject and is not mentioned in the thread title
why not start another thread "hydro chemical growers polluting our water system" if this is your main point

as i have pointed out the amount of water wasted simply by dripping taps and leaks in regular households all over the world
far exceeds any amount of water used for growing cannabis

its seems you are not completely focused on what point you are attempting to make

is it water you are really concerned about ?
as the thread starter the onus is on you to be clear about the point you wish to make (to be plainly and clearly understood)
so far imo you have failed to do this

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Yea i fucked up by saying hydro, but i stick to the point about hydro chemcial waste is contributing to the problem, which then is destroying the water system. So yes its part of this thread, no need to start another one because this is information and research that is already pointing towards all agriculture chemicals.
And yea the thread is vague, thats why others could help contribute. I gave examples of how we can help in the cannabis growing community, if you want to post about how we can stop house leaks, then great! Its a start for sure.