Hydro Newb looking for help with DIY build
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PetFlora
Well-Known Member
LOL. contact your water dept for the chemical makeup of your tap water
Most likely it's made up of a lot of lowest bidder base ingredients used to plug holes throughout the pipes from the water plant to your house
At > 200ppm they affect your nutrient chemistry balance. You can wind up with what looks like deficiencies but are nutrient lock out due to the imbalance
secondly, and more importantly, you don't ant to drink tap. Get a quality RO for both your health
OldMedUser
Well-Known Member
Pure RO isn't all that good for your health. It actually leaches minerals from your bones so I add some Himalayan sea salt and a dash of Coral Calcium powder to my mug of RO The plants just get some CalMag.
Tap water can be very good for you but it's best to get a water report from your supplier so you know for sure.
klx
Well-Known Member
His water is 60ppm which is actually really good.
But, as I said, there is always disagreement on this and that is fine. Go ahead and use RO water if it makes you feel better, I am very confident drinking and watering my plants with our tap water as all the water quality test results are published quarterly for all to see.
graying.geek
Well-Known Member
I'm with you on this, @klx . I'm confident that our water is perfectly fine for consumption by both me and my plants.
My question pertaining to this, though, is: If the build up of the extraneous 60 PPM in my tap water as I replenish the res due to evaporation and transpiration will require me to change out my res more than if I use ro or distilled?
Nafydad420
Well-Known Member
i would use that tap... mine is 350 ppm.
NrthrnMichigan
Well-Known Member
I use the same salt for my RO drinking water... Tastes damn good too.Pure RO isn't all that good for your health. It actually leaches minerals from your bones so I add some Himalayan sea salt and a dash of Coral Calcium powder to my mug of RO The plants just get some CalMag.
Tap water can be very good for you but it's best to get a water report from your supplier so you know for sure.
klx
Well-Known Member
Technically speaking yes, but you are talking such tiny amounts that it makes no difference unless you didnt dump your res for months (by which time the build up of individual salts from your bottled nutrient would be way more substantial). Check out the water quality test results from your local council or whatever you guys call them and most likely the "stuff" in there is basically cal mag, chlorine, some H2O2 and flouride.
If you are motivated, dump your res every 2 weeks and you wont have a worry in the world, if you are lazy, dump your rez monthly and you will still probably not have a worry in the world as long as you keep your res pathogen free (H2O2). The bigger the res, the less an issue this is.
Budley Doright
Well-Known Member
My tap (well) water tops out at 14 gpg which is 200ish and while it took a bit of time to dial in type and amount of nutrients/supplements, it now works very good. PH stability was an issue but It now takes 5-14 days to start to fluctuate up. When the ph starts to drop I change out the res. as I've found try to keep it stable after that is futile. I've also found using an amino product helps with uptake of cal/mag of which I have high numbers in my water. In saying that, if I could run an RO in the grow I would, this is a way of starting with a clean slate so to speak. .
PetFlora
Well-Known Member
Agreed. I used to use Him Salt, but it is low in CaMg (we are deficient in CaMg). I now use SEA 90 Minerals for internal consumption and their salt version as well. I extend the internal benefits with www.pythagoras432.comPure RO isn't all that good for your health. It actually leaches minerals from your bones so I add some Himalayan sea salt and a dash of Coral Calcium powder to my mug of RO The plants just get some CalMag.
Tap water can be very good for you but it's best to get a water report from your supplier so you know for sure.
OldMedUser
Well-Known Member
That's why I add the Coral calcium. It's CalMag for mammals like me.
I've been told I have thinning bones from X-rays tho haven't had a bone density test yet. Taken a couple nasty falls the last couple years and nothing broke so can't be that bad I think.I take a half tsp of baking soda at bedtime to boost my carbonates and keep my blood pH up. It's cheap and it works. Extra sodium for those that care but not a lot. I need that too with my hypo-tension. Blood pressure nose-dives sometimes and has since I was a baby. Good old Arm & Hammer. They don't certify but are rated Aluminum free.
Mustard is a powerful cancer fighter too and good old French's Yellow mustard got a 5 star rating at NaturalNews if you ever read their stuff. They use turmeric powder for the colour and no artificial things at all. A tsp 3 times a week is what I aim for. Easy to dose pasta or lots of things with it. I'm liking it as a regular condiment now. Wife made these wicked pickled beets with real apple cider vinegar that I'm using more instead of ketchup which is too full of sugar.
The list goes on!
PetFlora
Well-Known Member
A couple weeks ago I was watching YT videos about digestive enzymes. Like everything else, some are crap, some are good. Vitality Science (pet company, but human grade ingredients) has a very complete DE. I am now taking a tsp with most every mealThat's why I add the Coral calcium. It's CalMag for mammals like me.
I take a half tsp of baking soda at bedtime to boost my carbonates and keep my blood pH up. It's cheap and it works. Extra sodium for those that care but not a lot. I need that too with my hypo-tension. Blood pressure nose-dives sometimes and has since I was a baby. Good old Arm & Hammer. They don't certify but are rated Aluminum free.
Mustard is a powerful cancer fighter too and good old French's Yellow mustard got a 5 star rating at NaturalNews if you ever read their stuff. They use turmeric powder for the colour and no artificial things at all. A tsp 3 times a week is what I aim for. Easy to dose pasta or lots of things with it. I'm liking it as a regular condiment now. Wife made these wicked pickled beets with real apple cider vinegar that I'm using more instead of ketchup which is too full of sugar.
The list goes on!
graying.geek
Well-Known Member
The tank is setup and I started my first run ~2 weeks ago. I'm dripping seedling-strength nutes (Megacrop + tap) from the reservoir into the pots, 2 min on, 8 min off. My res is running at 20'C and pH 5.8 with ambient temp ~23'C. My PPM is a bit high at 310 (the water out of our tap is ~60). *But*, none of the 3 girls are looking good. All started yellowing bottom leaves up, and after 2 weeks week, I'm still not seeing any roots coming out of the pot.What am I doing wrong? Looks like a nute defficiency, but according to the Megacrop folks, the PPM should be down around 250, so they should be too strong right now. Did the clones need more root development before being put in the pots? Nutes too weak? Or, is there some other noob factor that I'm screwing up?
Any help appreciated.
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rkymtnman
Well-Known Member
is it a normal sized net pot?
for a plant that size, there should be roots and lots of them.
are you using anything for root rot?
looks like they need N but that leaf twist is weird too like too strong.
graying.geek
Well-Known Member
Yeah, 5 inch.
This one had 5-6 1-2 cm roots when I put it in the hydroton. Is that typical, or too little?: said:
H2O2, 35%, 60ml in 25 gal reservoir, twice a week.: said:
My thought also, but they should have plenty of N and Mg (the other diagnosis I found).: said:
Budley Doright
Well-Known Member
You may be watering to much. Also watch the amount of H2O2 as it may be too much. Even though I have 5 gallons of the stuff I don't use it, burned to many plants. I honestly think you are giving them to much water and peroxide IMO. I only flood two/three times a day with transplanted clones until roots are well established. I also had great luck with hydroguard when I could get it here but now use nothing other than nutes. I'll look back and see if I have any pics of a peroxide burnt plant to see if it looks the same, it's been a bit lol.
Budley Doright
Well-Known Member
Not a great pic but you can see the leaves are canoeing and that was after adding 20 ml of peroxide to 20 gallon res ..... stopped using it after that as there is just to many variables. With the res being under 70 I only see two things causing it. The EC should be fine IMO.
rkymtnman
Well-Known Member
that should be fine. especially since you are top feeding.
graying.geek
Well-Known Member
The twisted leaf that you noticed has been that way since before I took the cutting, and while I was still in organic soil, so I'm be skeptical that it is related to the H2O2, but certainly a variable.
My res ppm is at 310, that includes 60 from the tap water. You think that's an acceptable level?: said:
Budley Doright
Well-Known Member
That's what I run mine at and never had issues, so if not that I would say watering schedule, I find that less is best until roots are well established