distilled water???????????

[princesshigh]

If I use distilled water every time is that bad for my plants? I had two plants turn bright green on me. I have given them nothing but distilled water for almost two weeks. No change. Thought I fed them nutes to young so stopped. They are a month old,foot tall, and one week into flowering. The other three are looking green and great. The two look healthy other then being very light. Soil ph is 6.8

 

[Mel O'Cheddar]

We're having a tough time getting the cash together for a pH tester so we're trying to use distilled water as much as we can. I was told distilled is almost always better than tap. Don't take offense, I'll admit I am a n00b, but 3 weeks veg doesn't sound like very long.

 

[THCBD]

distilled water is bad. has no minerals or buffering ability. you want your ph closer to 6.0 so your irrigation water should be at at least as low as 6.0 if the soil is 6.8. without minerals in the water you will run into many strange deficiencies. you can water with tap water that has been sitting for a day to warm and remove some impurities. reverse osmosis water as well, but you may have to add more micronutrients (again, less minerals in the water)

 

[THCBD]

We're having a tough time getting the cash together for a pH tester so we're trying to use distilled water as much as we can. I was told distilled is almost always better than tap. Don't take offense, I'll admit I am a n00b, but 3 weeks veg doesn't sound like very long.

ph testers are relatively cheap (the dropper version, mad easy to use too). you can makeshift ph up and ph down out of things you can get onl foodstamps. you need minerals in the water. you need ph balanced water. otherwise your plants wont die, but they are much healthier in a ph 6.0 environment.

some strains you can place into flowering as soon as they germ. it all depends on ratio of sativa to indica, how much space you have, and how big you want them to get.

 

[Mel O'Cheddar]

distilled water is bad. has no minerals or buffering ability.

Now see, we were working under the assumption that tap water has all kinds of nasty shit in it. I too am a fan of "leave it out" but the Spouse likes to do everything the hard way. I will check out the dropper-test thingys, I assumed they were more difficult to use than the electronic ones, one stoner to another duh.

 

[Nullis]

Lol. Distilled water is not bad.

Depending on your growing style you may or may not desire dissolved minerals in your water source. Tap water will always have some dissolved mineral content. In hydroponics poor quality/hard water can lead to nutrient lockout and salt build up. In organics chlorinated tap water will kill off some of your micro-herd. Otherwise the dissolved minerals (calcium, magnesium, iron, et al) in the water may be beneficial and help meet those nutrient requirements.

If you're using distilled/RO water minerals can be supplemented; Cal-Mag for hydroponics and plenty of dolomite limestone in soil.

And tap water can contain a bunch of nasty stuff, it depends a lot where you live. West coast water for example can have a TDS upwards of 300 ppm, while my tap water typically reads around 70 ppm and distilled/RO water at or near 0 ppm.

http://water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/index.cfm

 

[THCBD]

correction; distilled water is bad unless you want to add more amendments than you may have to... personally i prefer tap because (to me) it's easier to adjust the ph, and i use less cal-mag that way. it all depends on where you live too, some places i'd be more likely to use outsourced water.

 

[Kanibus]

Lol. Distilled water is not bad.

Depending on your growing style you may or may not desire dissolved minerals in your water source. Tap water will always have some dissolved mineral content. In hydroponics poor quality/hard water can lead to nutrient lockout and salt build up. In organics chlorinated tap water will kill off some of your micro-herd. Otherwise the dissolved minerals (calcium, magnesium, iron, et al) in the water may be beneficial and help meet those nutrient requirements.

If you're using distilled/RO water minerals can be supplemented; Cal-Mag for hydroponics and plenty of dolomite limestone in soil.

And tap water can contain a bunch of nasty stuff, it depends a lot where you live. West coast water for example can have a TDS upwards of 300 ppm, while my tap water typically reads around 70 ppm and distilled/RO water at or near 0 ppm.

http://water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/index.cfm

I live on the West coast and my tap water is darn near undrinkable. I only use distilled water myself, add some cal-mag, my nutes and test PH. Never had any issues myself so far. I'm about 3 weeks into flowering right now and still have not seen any leaves turning color or dropping off.

Plain distilled water should have nothing in it and that is not good alone for your plants, which is why you have to add cal-mag to get the stuff that tap water has. Plants need cacium and magesium, which is stripped out. Nullis is spot on.

 

[GodSlave]

If I use distilled water every time is that bad for my plants? I had two plants turn bright green on me. I have given them nothing but distilled water for almost two weeks. No change. Thought I fed them nutes to young so stopped. They are a month old,foot tall, and one week into flowering. The other three are looking green and great. The two look healthy other then being very light. Soil ph is 6.8

I use distilled exclusively, always have (almost 10 years), and with no problems whatsoever.
If your plants are turning light green, you need to feed them, or your light level is too low. Just follow the directions on the bottle, as to not over feed. What kind of nutes are you using?
GS

 

[princesshigh]

Was using fertilome 20/20/20. To much? I have Tiger Bloom,but have not used it yet.

 

[GodSlave]

I'm not familiar with that brand, but I wouldn't go with 20/20/20 from any company. I would go with all Foxfarm nuts, Grow Big, Big Bloom, and Tiger Bloom. That's what I use, in addition to cal-mag, and I just started with Sweet. FF nutes are the bomb, and would highly recommend them.
GS

 

[princesshigh]

Cal/Mag???? So Im into the flowering phase now,just got back from the supply store and now have tiger bloom,big bloom,and cha ching. I meant to get the open sesame.lol. Going to start this week on foxfarm products from now on. Going to follow the chart to the letter!! This cal/mag im assuming is calcium/magnesium? Could be wrong. Im baked.lol. Do I need to worry about that even using the chart? Is there yet ANOTHER product I need to get?

 

[noobdestroyer]

distilled is the premo dank. yes you may add calmag about twice a grow with fox and NO tiger

 

[Cali.Grown>408]

in san jose our tap water is one of the worst around with really high amounts of calcium but my plants dont mind but i do get calcium spots occasionally..I FLUSH WITH DISTILLED WATER but lately i've been buying distilled water and i'll use half tap water and half distilled water in my reservoir and my plants are the healthiest i've ever seen em

 

[noobdestroyer]

you know what goes into ur distilled and that makes figuring the process easier people on tap dont know whats in it may work may not either way its not the best

 

[princesshigh]

I just moved here from San Jo!!! Miss Cali big time!!!

 

[Kanibus]

Cal/Mag???? This cal/mag im assuming is calcium/magnesium? Could be wrong. Im baked.lol. Do I need to worry about that even using the chart? Is there yet ANOTHER product I need to get?

yes cal/mag is calcium and magnesium, I wouldn't use the chart as a bible, but it does give you an idea. Adapt as your plant requires, tap water is inconsistant from location to location, while distilled water *should* be consistant wherever you are.

I use Botanicare line personaly so I can't say for sure if FoxFarms has Cal/Mag included with its line.

 

[irieie]

your utility provider should be able to provide you with an analysis of your tap water. it is a good idea to get this report and then you will know what is in your tap. if that is too much work, then just perform your own experiment with one tap and one distilled. personally i use RO water with the foxfarm line and have never needed cal/mag. but i do use molasses which also has many micro-nutrients which are absent in distilled water and very low in RO. i have also used botanicare sweet instead of the molasses with equal results. one word of advice: if you are using the foxfarm line, it is worth it to get all three soluble nutes. i have done grows without them and with them and the difference was very noticeable. good luck.

 

[Cali.Grown>408]

I just moved here from San Jo!!! Miss Cali big time!!!

crazy im from washington but i've lived in san jose since i was about 6..tacoma..where do u stay?? i'd miss san jose to if i were u, whenever i visit washington i get home sick..but yea just to add to the topic i never use cal mag and always have great results..the tap water will supply the calcium ur plants need but if ur using distilled water u will need to use some calmag for sure

 

[princesshigh]

Living in a dump called Centralia. Lived in Cali my whole life until 8 months ago. I worked at the auto plant that closed down last April. Im pretty positive im moving back! What do they sale that has cal/mag?