for the new grower,.....

[reckon]

I have been growing cannabis pretty much constantly since 1979.

If I had only one pearl of wisdom to pack in a bowl and pass around, it would be:

WATER

if your planning on using tap water, don't, if you ARE using tap water, STOP,....if you're using triple carbon filtered water (undersink dealy, costs a hundred), or an on sink "flip filter" and your local municipality is using CHLORAMINE*,...STOP.
(*most cities are using chloramine now instead of chlorine)

I recently spent a great deal of time at a friends (new grower) trying to diagnose what his troubles were,...the plants had some sort of deficiency (we both grow in moonshine's mix)...and after going back and forth on several things, it turns out his 3 stage under-sink filter was putting out 160ppm water that had a RIDICULOUS amount of calcium still in it.
changing to brand new filters brought it down to 90ppm, and still really high calcium, so basically all the nutrients were locking up, and the plants couldn't eat (the nutrients become too big a molecule to fit through the "holes" in the plants roots, basically)

so we got him a reverse osmosis system, and switched the tank from 4 gallons to a 33 gallon rubbermaid trash barrel, and stuck a submersible pump in the barrel with a garden hose running out, so now to water his plants he just flips a switch to turn on the pump, and he can water both inside and outside plants with the pure clean mineral free water.
now his water is 1 to 4 ppm, and has NO calcium, and the plants look just incredible (he's also drinking and cooking with the pure water now)


So, check your water BEFORE you go buy a bottle of "supa-boost-joose", or whatever, it's THE most often overlooked item in a growing plan.

 

[FC89]

Thanks for the info reckon, I'm going to be starting my first grow soon and I was worried that tap water would just be a bad idea. I don't have any cash for a RO system, what would be a better way to control my water? Thanks for the help man!

 

[reckon]

Thanks for the info reckon, I'm going to be starting my first grow soon and I was worried that tap water would just be a bad idea. I don't have any cash for a RO system, what would be a better way to control my water? Thanks for the help man!

I grow indoors (a small 4X6 1000W setup), I run between 9 and 12 girls depending on variety (gdp grows "skinny" so I can easily fit 12, blue dreams looks like a tumble weed, so 9),...I also could not afford a RO system (my buddies was $250 plus the barrel for the economy one), so I just went and got 3 five gallon storage jugs and get "water store" or "water machine" filtered,....runs between .80 cents and $1.50 per five gallon container.

the water tests at 0ppm for water store, and 2ppm or 3ppm at the machine at the gas station.

I use between 5 to 12 gallons per watering, depending on their stage of development.

so I might spend $20 on water per grow,....totally worth it once you see the results.

 

[FC89]

awesome thanks for the info man!

 

[Presto_D]

Good info!
I was planning on using "tap" water, but we're on a well. Currently using no filtration, and I have not acquired either a ph meter or ec meter. Yet.
Our water is leaving sand dunes in the toilet tanks and staining all the toilets/sinks/tub, etc.
Sometimes I wonder how bad this is to drink, but it was cleared by the health department.
Our current theory is that the water is full of tannins, the well did pass through a layer of peat on the way to the water table. That accounts for the staining of porcelain.
The sediment is just local sandy dirt, we're in Island county in WA.

Aside from acquiring testing gear, how do you think this water would do? Yes, asking for pure speculation! Does my description make you cringe? Or does it sound like fine ground water?

We intend to eventually install a sediment trap at the very least, and can't decide if we need better filtration to remove the tannins, or if we should just get rust colored fixtures..

As it is, we make coffee with it, shower and wash with it, but generally consume bottled water.

I know if we go all high tech with the water filtration I shouldn't use that for plants if it goes through a softening system.

We may go with a sink RO set up, Costco is selling a full set up for a reasonable price. We need to obtain many many gallons that is also deionized for a geothermal heat pump.

 

[reckon]

Good info!
I was planning on using "tap" water, but we're on a well. Currently using no filtration, and I have not acquired either a ph meter or ec meter. Yet.
Our water is leaving sand dunes in the toilet tanks and staining all the toilets/sinks/tub, etc.
Sometimes I wonder how bad this is to drink, but it was cleared by the health department.
Our current theory is that the water is full of tannins, the well did pass through a layer of peat on the way to the water table. That accounts for the staining of porcelain.
The sediment is just local sandy dirt, we're in Island county in WA.

Aside from acquiring testing gear, how do you think this water would do? Yes, asking for pure speculation! Does my description make you cringe? Or does it sound like fine ground water?

We intend to eventually install a sediment trap at the very least, and can't decide if we need better filtration to remove the tannins, or if we should just get rust colored fixtures..

As it is, we make coffee with it, shower and wash with it, but generally consume bottled water.

I know if we go all high tech with the water filtration I shouldn't use that for plants if it goes through a softening system.

We may go with a sink RO set up, Costco is selling a full set up for a reasonable price. We need to obtain many many gallons that is also deionized for a geothermal heat pump.

well water CAN be really good, and it can also be mineral soup,...you NEED to have the water analyzed, they call it a "quan-qual", which is short for "quantitative/qualitative analysis", which will tell you EXACTLY what's in it, and how much,...THEN you can make a plan to use/filter/ro your water, some health departments will do the water tests for free or greatly reduced cost (just taking it to an independent lab can run $500 per sample depending on each lab's equipment)

if you DO go RO (which I would if I had the coin), you'll want to install a larger tank,...most RO systems are designed for drinking or cooking, so a 5 gallon tank works great, but when your watering a dozen plants 5 gallons barely pre-wets the soil,......that's why we removed the 4 gallon tank on my buddies, and stuck the filtered outlet/float valve in a big ol 33 gallon grey trash barrel so you have more to work with

depending on the pressure and type of RO system, it can take quite a while to purify the water, so give yourself some lead time when installing this (it took more than 24 hours for the RO system we got to fill up that 33 gallon barrel)

 

[vinnythebat]

this place allows you to build youre own.

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/build-your-own-ro-system.html

 

[archie123]

found this out on my own,what a mess....great work!!!!!TY

 

[carbonskeleton]

Sometimes you can get information about what is present in your water from the city which can help you make the decision. The truth is some people live in an area where water from the tap works perfectly fine without any filtration. My water has excess boron which is a known plant micronutrient but in too great of quantities causes leafs to curl. So don't be scared just be informed.

 

[reckon]

Sometimes you can get information about what is present in your water from the city which can help you make the decision. The truth is some people live in an area where water from the tap works perfectly fine without any filtration. My water has excess boron which is a known plant micronutrient but in too great of quantities causes leafs to curl. So don't be scared just be informed.

very very good point!

my last place I lived (marin county) had PERFECT tap water, very low tds numbers (50-80), nearly neutral PH (6.8), and it stayed pretty consistent throughout the year*

my current location (santa clara county), the water is just awful (250ppm@ 7.2 PH), and VERY, VERY high calcium, so I had to do something, I was locking up all the nutrients after only a few waterings.

but how did I know these numbers? I TESTED THE WATER, or took advantage of a county program that offered free water testing.

so carbonskeleton is right on the money, know your water's chemistry and formulate your growing plan based on the factual numbers you got from the testing.

* your tap water may change in chemistry as the year progresses and your municipality switches water sources, or mixes water from several different sources to get you your tap water. so test several times a year if you are using plain unfiltered tap water to ensure the water company doesn't throw you an unexpected curve ball.

 

[reckon]

this place allows you to build youre own.

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/build-your-own-ro-system.html

you sir, deserve a bong hit for that link



I'll be ordering one as soon as I get paid again

very much for your input

 

[Sparky 6]

Thanks for the thread and info. Great stuff!

I also could not afford a RO system (my buddies was $250 plus the barrel for the economy one), so I just went and got 3 five gallon storage jugs and get "water store" or "water machine" filtered,....runs between .80 cents and $1.50 per five gallon container.

To be clear are "water store" and "water machine" products that can be purchased? I'm a little unclear here.

but how did I know these numbers? I TESTED THE WATER, or took advantage of a county program that offered free water testing.

I'll hit the phone book and see if I can come up with something similar in my county.

 

[reckon]

Thanks for the thread and info. Great stuff!

To be clear are "water store" and "water machine" products that can be purchased? I'm a little unclear here.

I'll hit the phone book and see if I can come up with something similar in my county.

yes, if you look in your local yellow pages you should find "water stores", that is, a store that uses advanced RO and UVA to purify local tap water, they then sell that super pure water (usually 0 ppm) back to you.

the store I go to sells a 5 gallon jug's worth for .80 cents (you bring in your own jug and refill it)

there are also several "GLACIER PURE WATER" vending machines in my area, one is in front of a gas station around the corner, and another is in front of my grocery store, you place your five gallon jug in the vending machine, put in the money (varies from $1.00 to $1.50 per 5 gallons), and the machine dispenses the pure filtered water, my local machines test out at 3 to 5 ppm.

great for middle of the night "oh crap I forgot to get water" runs!!

and yes I strongly recommend contacting your local water dept. and see if they offer water testing, as many of them do.

 

[chemman14]

I brew my own beer as well and a lot of people have their water sent off to have it tested
check out this thread, it is fairly cheap to have done
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/how-send-water-ward-labs-test-129581/

 

[StarFox]

awesome thread for the new forum

 

[cannaboy]

If the water is that bad move?

 

[Sparky 6]

If the water is that bad move?

Nah just get a reverse osmosis machine.

 

[MR.Montana]

thanks dude

 

[opt1c]

also if you don't have chloramine in your water and just good ol' chlorine a cheap aquarium pump hooked up to an airstone works great for bubbling out the chlorine... just get a big 55 gal drum with a float valve and airstone and get all jack and jill whenever u need water for ur plants