NFT- RO or tap?

[MarquisBlack]

I'm dedicating at least one of my lights to NFT soon, and I'm not sure if I should try tap initially, or use RO. I already have the RO unit, but stop using it due to various deficiencies and having to use too much Ph-up.

Nutes are going to be Floranova Grow/Bloom + Floralicious Plus.

 

[Me2]

You could use a mixture of both ro and tap, 75/25 or 80/20 split.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

I'm dedicating at least one of my lights to NFT soon, and I'm not sure if I should try tap initially, or use RO. I already have the RO unit, but stop using it due to various deficiencies and having to use too much Ph-up.

Nutes are going to be Floranova Grow/Bloom + Floralicious Plus.

Use RO. You won't need anything else and the FloraNova is very buffered for pH. I'd recommend going with the Maxibloom dry fert, if you're going to purchase the Floralicious+. The Dry fert is easier to work with, cheaper and Lucas formula without adding anything. The floralicious makes it like the FloraNova

There's PLENTY of Calcium and Magnesium in both FloraNova and MaxiBloom. You won't have deficiencies. Just set your pH at 5.2 and let it rise to 6.0-6.1 before knocking it back down. This allows your plant to suck up the max nutrients across the absorption ranges.

Always remember that your plant is eating stored up nutes.... it doesn't suck it up and use it directly, the plant processes them first. Allowing your pH to slowly drift up allows the plant to absorb the nutrients it needs when the absorption rate is optimal. Each part of the nutrient has a different uptake rate that's dependent upon pH. Let the plant choose from it all.

10K has written more and understands more about this than I ever will. Listen to experience and then trust your eyes.

Stay Safe!

 

[Bozo]

I have deficiencies every time I have used my RO water .My RO filter is on the top of my stuff I never needed list .Also have ph swing using it my tap water is much more stable ph wise.

 

[MarquisBlack]

Hmmm... I might have to dedicate two lights and try both.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

I have deficiencies every time I have used my RO water .

I believe it. There are a lot of nute strategies that fail when the nutes don't have enough magnesium and calcium in them. FNB and MaxiBloom don't have that problem, neither does mixing the Flora 3-part at 0:1:2 ratio.

Try not to confuse people by stating facts about yourself without info on what you're talking about for reference. Thanks

Stay Safe!

 

[hilbie]

tap water and gh nutes either flora series or floranova gives me a nice ph, my taps alkaline and they bring it down a few points the sweetspot, when i flush i use brita filtered water striaght which is also in the sweet spot after said filtering..learn how to use your tap and r.o together. generally i think people would be best just useing tap in most places, hope this helps a little-

 

[ChaosCatalunya]

I did NFT for years in London using plain old tap water, my friends still do.... apart from one guy who [trials lots of stuff out and found that] using Highland Spring [low pH] bottled water 50/50 with tap is best for cuttings.

I spoke at length to Mr GHE Europe, the top guy, about the RO thing, he said do not do it, tap water is far better at buffering pH than RO.... and that most of what you take out, you have to put back in expensively with Cal/Mag. "You would only really want to use RO if your water was really bad and even then I would only ever use part RO, part Tap" were his words.

 

[Bozo]

I spoke at length to Mr GHE Europe, the top guy, about the RO thing, he said do not do it, tap water is far better at buffering pH than RO.... and that most of what you take out, you have to put back in expensively with Cal/Mag. "You would only really want to use RO if your water was really bad and even then I would only ever use part RO, part Tap" were his words.

That goes along with much of what I ve read on the internet (so it must be true)

What ever works for ya is whats best ,and it didnt work for me.
Just my opion and I dout I confused anyone recon were all smart nough to weight others opions and come to our own conclusions ?

 

[ChaosCatalunya]

That goes along with much of what I ve read on the internet (so it must be true)

What ever works for ya is whats best ,and it didnt work for me.
Just my opion and I dout I confused anyone recon were all smart nough to weight others opions and come to our own conclusions ?

So true, you have to stick with what works for you and your garden, not get sucked in to what everybody else seems to be doing, however trendy or tempting it seems.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

"You would only really want to use RO if your water was really bad and even then I would only ever use part RO, part Tap" were his words.

My tap water has heavy metals and grows wicked slime.

I use only RO water with MULTIPLE STRAINS and don't see any deficiencies when I grow the way I described. If I grow any other way.... I see mag yellowing during bud-set.

Your choice... you can make your life easy and use only RO water with the nutes you have..... letting the pH swing give your plants access to all the nutrients it needs.... OR

You can play around with additives and other fun stuff.


Your best bet is to do a few runs with JUST nutes and a healthy pH swing from 5.2-6.1. IF, after a couple runs, you figure your plants would benefit better with a little Cal/Mag+.... Go for it. Just don't shoot yourself in the foot by starting with a ton of variables. You ARE smart... right? Grow like it!

Stay Safe!

 

[MotherNatureMan]

I would go with RO....easier flush at the end of the plants cycle.

 

[ChaosCatalunya]

My tap water has heavy metals and grows wicked slime.

I use only RO water with MULTIPLE STRAINS and don't see any deficiencies when I grow the way I described. If I grow any other way.... I see mag yellowing during bud-set.

Well if you are not a Heavy Metal fan then I guess you have an excuse to fire up the RO machine

Your choice... you can make your life easy and use only RO water with the nutes you have..... letting the pH swing give your plants access to all the nutrients it needs.... OR

I am NOT a Swinger, baby, that just sounds like loose talk from those RO types ... I only just heard this theory tbh, I always go the opposite way and try to keep it as constant as possible, backing up my argument with the example of expensive machines that do this automatically, constantly, in large glasshouses. My "lazy" mate who only does his pH every few days does not fuck up as much as he should though.... jury is out on that one, I know what the nutrient/pH uptake chart looks like and believe there is a middle ground you can stay constant on and get all you want.

You can play around with additives and other fun stuff.


Your best bet is to do a few runs with JUST nutes and a healthy pH swing from 5.2-6.1. IF, after a couple runs, you figure your plants would benefit better with a little Cal/Mag+.... Go for it. Just don't shoot yourself in the foot by starting with a ton of variables. You ARE smart... right? Grow like it!

Stay Safe!

I use additives rarely, been following HazyLadys Boost test thread though ... you are spot on about avoiding having too many variables.

 

[nftfreddie]

I use house & garden nutrients for hydro and it always gives me perfect PH when used with an R/O unit - It starts at around 5.5 and drifts upwards, particuarly during flowering. Using nft and reverse osmosis gives me superb yields. Some nutrients are very acidic to counter hard tap water but house & garden gives me exactly what my plants need and never fails to deliver.