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DWC BUDS BEHIND SOIL BUDS?????

Junk

Member
R/O means reverse osmosis, which yes removes the dissolved solids. Its adviced if you live in an area with hard water. As your removing the calcium and magnesium and other trace elements, you'll need to supplement them if your feed hasn't enough.
What does DI and DH stand for pls.
Peace.
Namaste

I know what RO means. I wasn't very clear...

DI is Deionization tank. DH is a dehumidifier.

This explains the difference better than I will.

http://www.labconco.com/news/whats-the-difference-between-ro-and-di-water-pur

So what I was trying to ask is if there is a reason our water needs to be run through an RO? Does the RO water have some beneficial characteristic that DI or DH water doesn't provide?

Bc there are no (for our purposes) dissolved solids in humidity. So the water your DH collects is close to 0 ppm. The TDS is usually from the bucket it empties into. And a DH will usually gather water faster than we need it.

So is the RO doing something special that we want? Or is it just the vernacular for 0 ppm (no dissolved solids) water? I'm not judging or challenging anyone, I'm sincerely asking?

I find the water from the DH doesn't swing as much in the pH than filtered water.
 

Douglas.Curtis

Autistic Diplomat in Training
I have no idea about DI water, never used it. DH water should be fine, it's the lack of effect on pH, and the lack of unwanted elements we want. The fact it doesn't swing as much leads me to wondering what isn't being tested? R/O, at 0-14 tds has an extremely low impact on pH, allowing a full and natural swing as nutrients are used up.

I use a full swing in the root zone, from 5.4 up to 5.8, within 7-10 days at the beginning of flower. Additional pH buffers are unwanted since they're additional elements cannabis can absorb. The full pH swing is wanted, to allow the plant easy access to all of the elements as they become available at different pH ranges. The plant has natural storage for elements and the plant responds well to repeatedly filling and nearly depleting this storage.

So, in short, I use clean water for ease of hydro maintenance and for the quality of the end product. R/O is the easiest way for anyone to nearly duplicate my exact water quality, including myself. :)
 

Junk

Member
The fact it doesn't swing as much leads me to wondering what isn't being tested? R/O, at 0-14 tds has an extremely low impact on pH, allowing a full and natural swing as nutrients are used up.

That's kind of what I'm getting at. Is the RO somehow more beneficial than DI or the DH water? But I've got all the info I need now thank you.

If the PH buffers aren't good to use, then a DI tank is not good. Which is probably why people aren't using them. So that answers that q.

We're not talking about the same thing with the DH water. What I mean to say is that it's predictable, like RO. You are using the term "swing" for what I have always called "the dip." Not that I would argue anyway, but "swing" actually makes more sense. I'll adjust my vocab. RO, and DH water, respond about the same, the DH the swing seems to take longer? I will probably check it now that we have talked about it bc I'm curious.


So, in short, I use clean water for ease of hydro maintenance and for the quality of the end product. R/O is the easiest way for anyone to nearly duplicate my exact water quality, including myself. :)

Yep, I understood all that from the gate. What I was trying to figure out is if all 0 ppm water is the same? Bc you can get it from an RO, a DI, or the DH. But now that I've learned that the PH buffers can be a hinderance, it explains why DI tanks are not used. Aside from a few ppm, DH water and RO should be roughly similar. But I understand what you mean now.

I have no idea about DI water, never used it.
It's very acidic. I've seen it be 4.0. So if the PH buffers aren't desired, we don't want it filtered that way.

So in answer to my original question, when you say RO water, you do actually mean RO water. A DI tank isn't good, even though it's 0 ppm.

If I have a job with the DI in the next couple weeks I'll try to remember to take a ph reading and a pic.
 

jedi5891

Active member
That sounds like a very advantagous reason to use R/O water for the lack of need to use PH buffers. Ive always thought these strong Acids and alkalines can't be very good for the plants hence why I try to not use them.
I find topping up the tank with either water or half strength nutes will give me the desired PH. Its naturally swinging from around 5.9/6.0-5.3/5.4 and my plants look healthy.

I wonder if any of you could recommend a good R/O system to use. I don't want to have to plumb it to the mains, just one I can run off the taps. I dont need an industrial system, one that would give enough water for between 30 and 60 plants grown in dwc and iws systems.
Any advice on what to look for when buying one would be greatly appreciated as I dont know much about them.
Thanks in advance.
Peace
Namaste
 

Douglas.Curtis

Autistic Diplomat in Training
I've had a stealth r/o 100 for a few years with no complaints. Not sure what others would recommend. Works great, and a quality float valve turns it off just peachy. :)
 

jedi5891

Active member
Thanks Douglas, that looks to be the right kind of system im looking for. Do you need an additional pump so that the water pressure is of adequate pressure levels to work efficiently.

Ive just been checking my plants in bloom and ive just noticed one of my plants is showing to be intersex. Underneath alot of the bud sites at base of the nodes there's male anthers with the yellow sepales. Ive pulled loads of them off but they seem to be infertile
With no actual pollen. What would u suggest to do, should I cull it to be safe or leave it.
Thanks
Peace
 
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Douglas.Curtis

Autistic Diplomat in Training
Cull it, to be safe. Yes.

Water pressure has to be at leasg 40psi and I believe the stealth is rated from 40 - 80psi. Using a pump requires a ba kflow pressure cut off switch, a regular float valve won't do.

In the interest of conservation, I recommend a 1:1 flow restrictor and a garden or other place to use the 'waste' water.
 

Junk

Member
Water pressure

Water pressure

Thanks Douglas, that looks to be the right kind of system im looking for. Do you need an additional pump so that the water pressure is of adequate pressure levels to work efficiently.

Ive just been checking my plants in bloom and ive just noticed one of my plants is showing to be intersex. Underneath alot of the bud sites at base of the nodes there's male anthers with the yellow sepales. Ive pulled loads of them off but they seem to be infertile
With no actual pollen. What would u suggest to do, should I cull it to be safe or leave it.
Thanks
Peace

To expand on what DC said..

If your spot is only 40, make sure you get something that will work at 40. It's important. I would not put a pump on the front end unless you absolutely have to.

RO forces the water through a membrane. Depending on what volume membrane is used, you need a certain pressure for it to work properly. Otherwise, you can end up with more reject than you should. So if you plan on running it off a tap connection, make sure what you get, is rated for the pressure you have.

E.g. I made the mistake once of using my commercial rig at a residence bc it was easier at the moment. But I got mostly reject water bc the membrane was made to work with much higher volume/pressure. I had to rig a pump on the front end (which caused it's own problems, I don't recommend it) bc my inlet pressure was around 30 (very low) and it was usually around 60-80.

So if your spot is 40, and it's rated for 40, it should be good. The only other thing I would look for is build quality and you should be good.

30-60 plants in DWC, it's going to be a fair amount of reject. The reason DC said to run it to an outside garden space or the like is not only to use the water, but also to avoid paying for dumping it. Many towns charge you based on your waste water. If your town does that, and you run the waste to a drain, your wasting water, and $$.

The other option is to let the reject go to a bucket and lug it outside. That way you aren't paying to dump it, but that gets old in a few days.

I'll try to remember to take a pic of mine today to show you what I do.
 

jedi5891

Active member
Hey folks. Hope everyone is good, all is well with me with everything in the garden looking on point. I'm going to chop down my first ever hydro grown plant soon.
I've got a Humbolt seeds org Choc mint og from a cutting that I had in the DWC. She never grew very big unlike the rest so she's only small. I was told her flowers form really quick and after growing over 100 strains I've never seen anything like it. After 3 weeks of bloom the buds are fully formed nugs with no pistils, just swollen calyxs. After 4 weeks they stopped swelling loads and have just been ripening and developing more terpens. At 6.5 weeks she's nearly all milky Trichs with some Amber, more than ready. I'm just flushing her out then she'll be chopped. The herb looks really nice with rock hard og type buds of small size and lime green with not many pistils and nice amount of resin and good kushy earthy aromas.
Here's a pic
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jedi5891

Active member
Here's a lower bud shot of a 3 way hybrid of mine grown DWC. Looking forward to this one- GSC x gogi og x gogi og. Very greasy and smells of play dough, very hard buds too.
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This is one of 3 blue berry gums grown DWC, plant grew into a monster with loads of rock hard golf ball nugs smelling of sweet dankness.
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