Tap water

[JSB99]

I'm sure this has been answered but I didn't find any threads.

How much impact does using tap water have on the plants? I've been filling gallon water bottles with tap water and letting them sit a day before using them to let the chlorine fizzle out of the water.

It's kind of a pain in the ass so I was wondering if it was safe to use tap water straight from the faucet for the plants. We use it on our house plants and they do fine...but, of course, they're not producing buds and I'm not cloning them.

 

[potpimp]

That's what I'm using too. Last year I used bottled water from the store and this grow is doing even better. I know I'll take a lot of crap for this and RO water is no doubt better but I doubt that it makes that much difference. See Stinkbud's grow op; tap water is all he uses too and gets incredible results.

 

[Green Funk]

You might want to put a few anti-chlorine drops in your water first

 

[topfuel29]

heres some good threads
https://www.rollitup.org/hydroponics-aeroponics/133979-ph-probs-dwc.html

https://www.rollitup.org/general-marijuana-growing/134726-ph-water.html

I wouldn't use tap water.
just well water or disstilled.

 

[DOOMTOKE6]

me to me to i want to know.

 

[tkufoS]

i used tap water also by filling up 25 gal trash cans and letting it sit for @ 1 and 1/2 weeks before using it , after a few times of this it starts growing a little algae in the can ,but it never hurt me..... AND i used MG but that was then .peace and gl

 

[Rocky Top High]

I can't give a bunch of scientific stats that says using tap water is a no-no. I use it and have for over a year and I am very pleased with my results. I let it sit for at least 24 hours before using and on some instances have used the clorine drops when I need some sooner. Just ALWAYS check your ph before you use the water. NEVER EVER use water that you don't know the ph. Good luck

 

[Picasso345]

It all depends on your tap water. Some areas have good water and those posters will say it is fine, use tap water, all plants do great with it, without considering you may be in a situation far, far different from them.

The simple fact is that your tap may be great for marijuana plants or it may kill them. Without testing the water or just trying a grow, you won't know and nobody can give you a 100% accurate answer.

That said, I'd say give it a try. Most tap should be fine.

 

[JSB99]

I've had to use water straight from the tap and I didn't see any difference, but this was on mature plants, not clones. I imagine clones are more sensitive. I'll probably use 24 hour water for the clones and straight tap for the mature plants. My tap water is in a good Ph range (around 5), so I've never had to adjust it.

 

[JSB99]

It all depends on your tap water. Some areas have good water and those posters will say it is fine, use tap water, all plants do great with it, without considering you may be in a situation far, far different from them.

The simple fact is that your tap may be great for marijuana plants or it may kill them. Without testing the water or just trying a grow, you won't know and nobody can give you a 100% accurate answer.

That said, I'd say give it a try. Most tap should be fine.

Good deal. Thanks

 

[tkufoS]

thats not right ^^^^ i never checked the PH on the 3 grows i did and never had a problem , made a little coin too

 

[Rocky Top High]

thats not right ^^^^ i never checked the PH on the 3 grows i did and never had a problem , made a little coin too

You are the EXCEPTION and not the norm. What if your ph would of been 8+ or -5? Your grow would of died and you would be asking why. You got lucky. Until you know without a question what your ph is, you should NEVER assume it's OK. IMHO, giving advice to NOT check your ph is not advisable, especially to new growers. the ph is vital to any grow and to attempt growing without a tester is like playing russian roulette, IMHO. You were lucky and you got an empty chamber when the gun was handed to you.

I strongly reccomend checking your water AFTER you add nutes. It is a good habit to get into and will eliminate alot of issues if your grow goes bad.

 

[ANC]

The chlorine may eve kill some of the nasty stuff in the ground if you use soil...

I was wondering, I have access to river water, maybe 50 steps from my house.... would this be good for my plants?

 

[JSB99]

You are the EXCEPTION and not the norm. What if your ph would of been 8+ or -5? Your grow would of died and you would be asking why. You got lucky. Until you know without a question what your ph is, you should NEVER assume it's OK. IMHO, giving advice to NOT check your ph is not advisable, especially to new growers. the ph is vital to any grow and to attempt growing without a tester is like playing russian roulette, IMHO. You were lucky and you got an empty chamber when the gun was handed to you.

I strongly reccomend checking your water AFTER you add nutes. It is a good habit to get into and will eliminate alot of issues if your grow goes bad.

Yeah, I've noticed my Ph will change slightly after adding nutes (if I add a significant amount). Luckily I haven't had any problems keeping the Ph in range.

Thanks for all the advice.

 

[aknight3]

tap water with a ph of 5? man u better stop worryin about ur plants and start wonderin where u get ur water from, thats dangerous drinking water, whoever supplies that to you could get in serious trobule for giving water that acidic, anything below 4.2 can kill you, 5 is much to close for me, try only drinking 6.8-7.9, those are safest

 

[topfuel29]

I've had to use water straight from the tap and I didn't see any difference, but this was on mature plants, not clones. I imagine clones are more sensitive. I'll probably use 24 hour water for the clones and straight tap for the mature plants. My tap water is in a good Ph range (around 5), so I've never had to adjust it.

Dude, Back away from the water......
Are you sure your water is pH 5?????
It should be 7 or a little higher in the summer ours is 8

 

[potpimp]

Drink alkalized water that has been bumped up to 9.0 or 9.5 and you'll never get cancer.

 

[JSB99]

Dude, Back away from the water......
Are you sure your water is pH 5?????
It should be 7 or a little higher in the summer ours is 8

Okay, I think my Ph meter is way off

After reading this I poured a cup of water and tested it. It was 4.78.

I calibrated my meter when I first got it but when I put it in the calibration solution (7.0) it shows 3.58.

It looks like my plants are doing fine. With the calibration off it means I've been keeping my water at around 9???

Wait, that can't be correct

Okay, do I have a crappy Ph meter or something? I would think that my plants wouldn't be doing good if it was up that high.

This also means that my tap water is probably around 8


Note: My Ph meter instructions says to immerse the electrode in Ph 6.86. The closest the hydro shop had for cali solution was 7.0. Is this where things are getting off?

 

[Cr8z13]

Believe me, I'd love to use just tap water for my grows. The problem is that it comes out of the faucet at nearly 500ppm. RO is a necessity in my case.

 

[tusseltussel]

tap water is diffrant everyware you go my water here mesures a ph of 7.1 and tds of 25 where i used to live it was 7.8 and tds of 540 i use it right from the tap here and have used it right from the tapp with hydro and no problems. if yer in a rural area you may have pretty good water in the city it will prolly suck ass i let mine sit out. i have a 5 gallon jug i fill up and let sit in the corner of my grow room ther was a thread the other day with a link to find whats in your water and all the readings ph ppm how much arsnic and other bad shit is in there if i come accross it i will post a link