What are the plant symptoms of "bad water?"

RuggedWombat · Sep 18, 2023

When I say bad water, I don't mean non potable well water or runoff water on the property etc. I'm referring to specifically city treated water with chemicals that might hurt the plants. I normally let my water sit for a day or two as I've heard it can help chlorine evaporate. The reason I'm pointing toward the water is I've had the same interveinal chlorosis issue in every single grow for several years. The grows always turn out great, but the same issue always shows up:

Oldest and biggest fan leaves slowly brown between the veins until the spots die and turn crispy. The only other thing I can maybe come up with it's possible MAG def and it's always happening because supposedly DG FP is lacking in calmag and I've been using this formula the whole time. The only other unknown variable is what might be in the water. These are pics from like 4 different grows.

RuggedWombat · Sep 18, 2023

RuggedWombat said:
When I say bad water, I don't mean non potable well water or runoff water on the property etc. I'm referring to specifically city treated water with chemicals that might hurt the plants. I normally let my water sit for a day or two as I've heard it can help chlorine evaporate. The reason I'm pointing toward the water is I've had the same interveinal chlorosis issue in every single grow for several years. The grows always turn out great, but the same issue always shows up:

Oldest and biggest fan leaves slowly brown between the veins until the spots die and turn crispy. The only other thing I can maybe come up with it's possible MAG def and it's always happening because supposedly DG FP is lacking in calmag and I've been using this formula the whole time. The only other unknown variable is what might be in the water. These are pics from like 4 different grows.

Fangthane · Sep 18, 2023

RuggedWombat said:
I'm referring to specifically city treated water with chemicals that might hurt the plants. I normally let my water sit for a day or two as I've heard it can help chlorine evaporate.

I think it's pretty much been shown that the very small concentration of chlorine/chloramine added to the public water supply doesn't hurt plants or microbe colonies. Chlorine is one of the micronutrients pot plants need.

I suck at diagnosis, so I won't even guess what's going on, but if you're worried about chloramine levels you could try some of this stuff to neutralize it:

Amazon.com

RuggedWombat · Sep 18, 2023

Fangthane said:
I think it's pretty much been shown that the very small concentration of chlorine/chloramine added to the public water supply doesn't hurt plants or microbe colonies. Chlorine is one of the micronutrients pot plants need.

I suck at diagnosis, so I won't even guess what's going on, but if you're worried about chloramine levels you could try some of this stuff to neutralize it:

Amazon.com

Honestly a secondary theory is I use Promix bx in fabric pots so it's possible that the medium is drying too quickly and the moisture is evened out in the root zone by the plant pulling it from between the veins? So underwatering I guess. Like I said it's always been there and no matter how much better the grow results are, it's always just there to some degree.

ProPheT 216 · Sep 18, 2023

Try.feeding twice as often as you do now with the same ec. Bet it changes things, she's just eating all the food before drinking all the water. Left with no food for half of each watering cycle

RuggedWombat · Sep 18, 2023

ProPheT 216 said:
Try.feeding twice as often as you do now with the same ec. Bet it changes things, she's just eating all the food before drinking all the water. Left with no food for half of each watering cycle

Hmm well I've always done feed water feed water every 3 days. So there is a window where they could go hungry. I just always assumed it would be pure salty crust if I watered every 3 days with nutrients plus it cost less in nutrients and is generally best practice so it's just "the way it's always been done." I think il eventually drop the Bloom formula and just run the FP from start to finish and get a gallon at a time to save money. I also water a gallon per plant in 3 gallon fabric pots.

Fangthane · Sep 18, 2023

I dropped Dyna-Gro's Bloom for Mag-Pro about a year back. People seem to love it as a supplement to Foliage-Pro.

Billy the Mountain · Sep 18, 2023

If it's city water, you should be able to find/request a water report.

While possible, it's quite unlikely your issue is due to "bad water".

Dyna Gro is very low in Ca & Mg (2% and .5%) and has essentially no Sulfur fwiw.

The convenience of a 1 part liquid doesn't come without compromise.

Fangthane · Sep 18, 2023

Mag-Pro does have some Sulfur, but no idea if it's considered enough.

RuggedWombat · Sep 18, 2023

Billy the Mountain said:
If it's city water, you should be able to find/request a water report.

While possible, it's quite unlikely your issue is due to "bad water".

Dyna Gro is very low in Ca & Mg (2% and .5%) and has essentially no Sulfur fwiw.

The convenience of a 1 part liquid doesn't come without compromise.

I've done a water report in the past but then one look at it made me realize I had no fucking idea what any of the measurements, quantities, or verbiage even was to know what I was looking at.

What are the plant symptoms of "bad water?"

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