Growing with well water

[hockeyrichard]

So I've been looking at homes and a few are ran off well water. Is growing with well water possible? I'm assuming you would have to buy a filter of some sort. Would a reverse osmosis machine do that? How much does a reliable brand cost? Any advise or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Cheers and big buds hr

 

[Jack Harer]

Yes you can grow VERY well with well water, even better than with city tap water. You do not need a filtration system!!! Water (be it well or city tap) has essential minerals in it that RO or distilled lack. Most notably Mg, Ca, Fe and Zn. Using RO water will end up in mineral deficiencies unless you supplement them, but why buy supplemental minerals that you'll get for free and in the correct ratios? City water has chlorine/chloramine and flouride in it, well water doesn't. I use my city tap water without filtration, have for years with no probs. The ONLY time I ever had a prob was when I first started out and believed some (OK, more than a few) Jackasses who told me I HAD to use RO or distilled water. I had Mg and Ca deficiencies to the point of losing all but 1 or 2 plants out of 30, over 2 grows.! Don't make that mistake! (Or if you DO make it, remember I told you so!!! LOL)

 

[hockeyrichard]

I'm more concerned of too much sulfur or other types of nutrients ect. How would you go about testing and losing some if its to high in certain nutrients and to low in others ect. I have exp with fox farms and ph up/down previously I've used city water so I do have a ph meter.

 

[Cobnobuler]

Im not a good PH guy but in that case I'm sure you'll want to know what that is. ....And use a meter you know you can trust. Thats my problem. I got one and dont trust it.

 

[mangojuice]

You can write into ur contract that the sale depends on the testing of the water. Well water depends very much on location and depth, not only regionally but also individually. Three wells within a mile can yield entirely different water. Sulfur can be a huge problem in some areas and calcium can be a huge problem in some areas the solution to both will give you a huge problem with sodium. R.O.filtration wastes as much water as it produces so can be a different sort of problem. Don't take the sellers word for the quality or quantity of their well and don't just study the regional water quality. Have ur sale depend on lab testing. Plants do great on good well water. Happy growing.

 

[mangojuice]

For testing start with the health dept of the county ur property is at. There r water testing kits on amazon but their ratings r .ixed so I'd go to a lab. Every county has one and the cost is around 25$ for the basic testing, like what u r asking.

 

[Jack Harer]

I'm more concerned of too much sulfur or other types of nutrients ect. How would you go about testing and losing some if its to high in certain nutrients and to low in others ect. I have exp with fox farms and ph up/down previously I've used city water so I do have a ph meter.

Dude, the sulphur and other "nutrients" are a desirable thing, not a problem. If the pH of the SOIL ITSELF is good, then the pH of anything you pour into it will be changed to that of the soil! Soil (and the lime in it used to stabilize the pH) is a buffer and resists change, while an unbuffered solution will rebound every time you add pH up or down.

https://www.rollitup.org/blogs/blog17764-ph-your-tap-water-soil.html

 

[hockeyrichard]

Dude, the sulphur and other "nutrients" are a desirable thing, not a problem. If the pH of the SOIL ITSELF is good, then the pH of anything you pour into it will be changed to that of the soil! Soil (and the lime in it used to stabilize the pH) is a buffer and resists change, while an unbuffered solution will rebound every time you add pH up or down.

https://www.rollitup.org/blogs/blog17764-ph-your-tap-water-soil.html

Yeah they're a desired thing untill there's way too much sulphur. Calcium ect. Then you have problems of lock out ect.

 

[Jack Harer]

Whatever. You are NOT gonna get such an overabundance of anything that would create a nutrient lock out situation from hard water.

 

[hockeyrichard]

No doubt your right about them being desired but not if the ec is too high ect. Toxicities are no fun and I've read hard to deal with. Basically I was wondering if a ro machine wld fix my problem if the desired nutrients were too high. It seems as if this will not workout for better so im just gonna keep looking. ESP if ro water is gonna be twice as much water. I'm a broke college kid mind u so I need breaks where I can get them. Moving sucks

 

[hockeyrichard]

Like I'm not sure if its hard or soft well water and where it's located was a bit far out of town anyways. I'm not trying to argue but water around my parts varries greatly town to town. Ex my last town you could smell the "eggs" from the water tower from miles away. But my house was ran from the city so I didn't have to worry about it. I've also read other threads that comment on not the best chems added to the well and needing special filters ect. To remove certain nutes. I think buying a house off city water will work out better in the end anyways

 

[Jack Harer]

We had what we call "Mineral Water" in many areas of S Fla. Smelled like rotten eggs (I refused to bathe in it or drink it), and extremely hard. Myself and many others have used it for ever to grow. I sort of miss it now that I'm not down there anymore. My plants seemed to do better with that mineral water. Not that what I have here is bad.

 

[jesus of Cannabis]

dont spend money when you dont have to, well water is fine and it wont mess with your grows. I have well water for 8 years and never a problem.

also look at the vegetation around the area, ya know nature, it uses the same well water for every blade of grass, leaf and tree in the area, if its green around you then its fine.

 

[bass1014]

oy i use well water and this is how i turned out, i have been growin with well water for over ten years now and the only issue i have ever had is a salt build up. with a calimag flush its done and everything is green again.. we as a human have used well water 5 times longer than tap water.. tap water is so big cities can just flip a switch or knob and have the so called purities of life when in fact tap is worse then well.. would you rather have natural or man made..

 

[hockeyrichard]

oy i use well water and this is how i turned outView attachment 2877592View attachment 2877593View attachment 2877594View attachment 2877595, i have been growin with well water for over ten years now and the only issue i have ever had is a salt build up. with a calimag flush its done and everything is green again.. we as a human have used well water 5 times longer than tap water.. tap water is so big cities can just flip a switch or knob and have the so called purities of life when in fact tap is worse then well.. would you rather have natural or man made..

Calmag is the only thing I realy haven't got into. Is calimag flush the same thing? How do u use it?

 

[Hipster2U]

Sulfur smell can sometimes be the result of iron consuming bacteria. There is a method of bleaching the well to kill the bacteria to cure the smell. Obviously you can't use the water while the bleach is working for a day or two, then the system has to be flushed.