NuNRG

hi every1 i been using tap water my whole life ..and where i live the tap water sucks bigtym .. i think i measued 120 ppm defualt straight from tap ... the main question was is there anything i need to kno about growing with r/o water in SOIL ?> . some told i will need calmag and such.. also are they easy to install ?? and if u can recomend me a brand :P thanx in advance

tripps

HTG sells a good setup, I forget the brand name. 120 ppm? Not bad, my well water is 450 ppm, PH 7.8, LOL. You definitely need Cal-Mag, I actually run 2/3 RO, 1/3 well water, puts me right where I want to be, around 150 ppm and PH in the low 6's. I tried straight RO initially, but there are trace elements MJ plants need in extremely small quantities that you are missing with RO. Setup I have is pretty much plug n play.

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"The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance-it is the illusion of knowledge"-Daniel Boorstin

"Tell me and I forget, show me and I remember, involve me and I understand." John Gay

Hi! It's me... the girl from the bus...Remember? The last tour? Well...Information is not knowledge. Knowledge is not wisdom. Wisdom is not truth. Truth is not beauty. Beauty is not love. Love is not music. Music is THE BEST...Wisdom is the domain of the Wis (which is extinct).

"If I cannot laugh in Heaven, I do not wish to go there."- Martin Luther

First journal Soil
Second journal Hempy
Third Journal Ebb and Flow

CRAZYTRAIN

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btk

My tap (city water) is 145ppm at about pH 7.1. I use it with no problems. While I would like a R/O system, I can't justify the expense with my water...

NuNRG

wow never knew that . so starting at 0 ppm water is bad ? even after calgmag is added ??
for soil grow.

smokey the bare

Hey NuNRG,

I only have a surface well available too, (PH 6.4, ppm >240, including a very high level of iron). I generally use RO water or artesian well water. For the longest time I couldn't figure out why my plants kept drying out on me, even though the soil was damp.

Tripps put his finger on it - CalMag - since I started adding it things have gotten much better.

Tripps I liked your idea of mixing well water and RO water to balance things out. Do you still add nutes to your water for veg and bloom?

Peace.

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-J

cavadge

My tap water PH and TDS vary according to rainfall and season, and I've measured as high as 8.2 and 320 ppm. And I use a whole house filter to at least trap the sediment (turns brown during spring thaw). So RO water and Cal Mag Plus it is for my aero grows.

I purchased a five stage filter from the ebay store of Water General Mfg for just $129, with a three gallon storage tank, pressure gage, and a simple hookup which doesn't require one of those friggin pipe-piercing valve type connections. I later added a permeate pump ($45), which I highly recommend to any RO user. It uses only water pressure to operate, improves the throughput of the system, and reduces the amount of waste water going down the drain. The only downside is that it makes a clicking noise while operating, but that doesn't bother me.

Passing this on if you need a lot of RO water for your grow...

I have a 40 gal res, and it takes some time to produce 40 gallons of RO water (most of a day). I couldn't wait all day for a fillup during a res change, so I used 5 gallon water storage containers, but they turned out to be a major PITA, because I had to keep checking for each container getting full, otherwise, flooded floor.

So I thought about it and came up with a self-contained automatic RO storage system. First off I scored a 55 gallon water storage barrel with a 3/4" outlet at the bottom, and two bungs on top. I connected a 3/4" ball valve to the outlet with a hose thread adapter. Now I could hook up a garden hose to the barrel.

One bung I drilled out and fitted a 90 degree plastic fitting. This is the vent. To the other bung I added a float valve, which happened to use the same 1/4 tubing connection as the RO system. I cut the outlet line from the RO system, added a tee, and ran that line to the float valve. The RO water trickles in, barrel fills up, float valve shuts off water when full.

I use a three foot piece of hose to fill a two gallon pail for topups. Just open the valve and it fills up in about 20 seconds.

Res changes are a different animal though. For that I purchased a fluid transfer pump for $90 from Home Depot, which also uses garden hose threaded ends. I mounted it to a board, spliced the cord into a metal receptacle box, and connected the hot wire to a standard light switch. Now I could control the pump with the switch.

So - time to drain the res - garden hose connected to the res, other end to pump. Second hose from pump to sink. Switch on pump and drain res in 10 minutes. Disconnect and do maintenance, then when ready to fill, hook up pump inlet to RO barrel with a garden hose, second hose routed to res. Open barrel valve, switch on pump and res filled in ten minutes. Fast and easy, and I always have enough RO water on hand for a res change or topups.

Lastly - Although this barrel is blue, and I had low wattage lighting for moms and clones in the area where I keep the barrel, I found algae growth in the water one day when filling the bucket. Drained it and while looking inside it I realized the barrel was translucent. Damn. So I treated it and flushed it, a found a 45 gallon yard trash bag made a perfect cover. It blocks all the light and no more algae issues.

tripps

Yes, certainly, little/no NPK in straight water, but tiny trace amounts of Aluminum, Chlorine, odd stuff it only might need a few molecules of, but not generally present in nutes.

__________________
I may very well be laughing at you, not with you.

"The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance-it is the illusion of knowledge"-Daniel Boorstin

"Tell me and I forget, show me and I remember, involve me and I understand." John Gay

Hi! It's me... the girl from the bus...Remember? The last tour? Well...Information is not knowledge. Knowledge is not wisdom. Wisdom is not truth. Truth is not beauty. Beauty is not love. Love is not music. Music is THE BEST...Wisdom is the domain of the Wis (which is extinct).

"If I cannot laugh in Heaven, I do not wish to go there."- Martin Luther

First journal Soil
Second journal Hempy
Third Journal Ebb and Flow

scoobie-doobie

rain water might be a good idea. check ph,make temp right. add your nutes. check ph again.grow on,and good luck.

EMj

What works for me is RO water, 0 ppm.

Add Cal/Mag to 200ppm

Add any supplements as recommended on the label.

Top of to desired ppm with base nutrient.

That's just how I do it and I have great results. I recently tried one of those filters that removes 99.whatever out of the water and it gave me 120 ppm water. I tried this filter to try to speed up the water making process as I have 4 55 gallon res. Making RO for all that is a pain in the butt. My plants suffered, and I went back to RO. Went and bought another RO and just deal with making water now. Just some of my experiences. I don't like the fact that tap has flouride and cloramine in it. Just me...

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