RO water kills my plants.

kingromano

Well-Known Member
another thing to consider is RO water, compared to tap water do not contain any chlorine

i use RO water in a nft system and i always innoculate my rockwool with bacterias before transplanting in the system

it could be your problem, do you get any roots ?
 

twentyeight.threefive

Well-Known Member
RO filters can also screw up the waters EC and that's why the buffer (pH Osmosis Stabilizer) is needed.
I tried fixing the problem using only pH solution before and it did not end well.
Without the buffer, the nutes will always tank the pH levels.
Sounds like you need to learn about basics before making more comments.

RO water should be EC 0.0. It's doesn't screw up the waters EC, it should make it zero. That's the purpose of the RO filter.
 

cannabineer

Ursus marijanus
Ladies, and gentlemen, of the thread, I bring you the solution to this problem.
I was having the same issues as the OP, the RO water I had been using for years suddenly started killing my plants.
I replaced all of the RO filters, nothing changed.
Finally, by chance, while reading another thread, somebody posted the answer to my prayers.
View attachment 4901044
Add it to your water before adding the nutes and you’re golden.
Thanks a million @CaliWorthington
Oh my god I have been looking for this all my life
!!
It undoes all the instability I have been experiencing in my water-based grows!!1! Especially when I had the raw hubris to reverse the natural order of osmosis. I am truly humbled.
 

Lordhooha

Well-Known Member
Sounds like you don't know what you are doing with ro and can't give details as outlined.
Technically yes chlorine can kill your plant in high enough levels (yes should never happen with levels in any standard city water supply or any water supply but technically speaking it can lol) also didn't realize it was like 9 years old. Yes there is different filter levels for RO and companies have different amounts of things they take out or guarantee to remove or reduce to certain levels. My question to you is why would plain RO kill clones? I'm asking as I'm going to try to clone next grow and want to be prepared for any issues, my RO ppm is 0-5 and I havent had any issues yet from seedlings to flower.
Don't use ro plain there add nutrients to it. I put 300 ppm of nutrients in my aero cloner. Ro water can strip calcium. How are you doing said clones. Most issues are user error.
 

Jjgrow420

Well-Known Member
don't bother with calmag supplements or any other product
get a soft water line of nutrient

i use 100% RO water/air conditionner condensate water with dutch pro RO/SO nutrient line

calmag is unsuited to stabilize RO
it do not even buffer the ph of the water properly, just bring the missing calcium, unbalancing the npk ratio

hard water formulas are designed to work with water buffered by calcium carbonate, the acid in the nutrient will react with the calcium carbonate and make it avalaible for the plant
its totally unsuited to RO water or very soft water, because it will acidify way too much your solution, forcing to use ph up

some manufacturers make soft water/ro formulations, ghe .. ionic.. dutchpro(my fav) and many others
the key is to find fresh batch and not old bottles with precipitate at the bottom


they are always fresh here

thank me later
soooo.... its nutes with cal mag mixed in.
wtf is.the diff
oh i know about 200bux
 

Mattcheck

Well-Known Member
527756"]
Don't use ro plain there add nutrients to it. I put 300 ppm of nutrients in my aero cloner. Ro water can strip calcium. How are you doing said clones. Most issues are user error.
[/QUOTE]
Haven't gotten that far yet it will be at least a few months from now so just really starting to research different methods more in depth any opinions or advice or recommendations?
 

kingromano

Well-Known Member
soooo.... its nutes with cal mag mixed in.
wtf is.the diff
oh i know about 200bux
no. don't be stupid please
with hard water nutes+0.4mS of calmag on RO water your ph will be under 5 after mixing

with soft water nutes you will always get a ph of 5.5-6.0 after mixing.and you will get a proper nutrition, not unbalanced by nitrates in calmag products

and where did you see it was more expensive than regular hard water fert?
 

Jjgrow420

Well-Known Member
no. don't be stupid please
with hard water nutes+0.4mS of calmag on RO water your ph will be under 5 after mixing

with soft water nutes you will always get a ph of 5.5-6.0 after mixing.and you will get a proper nutrition, not unbalanced by nitrates in calmag products

and where did you see it was more expensive than regular hard water fert?
what does it matter what your ph is after adding nutes? thats what a ph meter and ph up/down is for....?
how am i being stupid?
youre literally using the same shit. with extra calcium and magnesium in it.
when i add nutes my ph is generally 5.9-6.3. little ph up or down and its good
 

Hollatchaboy

Well-Known Member
what does it matter what your ph is after adding nutes? thats what a ph meter and ph up/down is for....?
how am i being stupid?
youre literally using the same shit. with extra calcium and magnesium in it.
when i add nutes my ph is generally 5.9-6.3. little ph up or down and its good
It's just does.... ok?
What's a ph meter?
You just are.... ok? :p :bigjoint:
 

kingromano

Well-Known Member
what does it matter what your ph is after adding nutes? thats what a ph meter and ph up/down is for....?
how am i being stupid?
youre literally using the same shit. with extra calcium and magnesium in it.
when i add nutes my ph is generally 5.9-6.3. little ph up or down and its good
not really
im not a chemist but its formulated differently
not the same acid used etc ..

its absolutely not the same as regular nutes+calmag
 

hydromonsters

Active Member
Ladies, and gentlemen, of the thread, I bring you the solution to this problem.
I was having the same issues as the OP, the RO water I had been using for years suddenly started killing my plants.
I replaced all of the RO filters, nothing changed.
Finally, by chance, while reading another thread, somebody posted the answer to my prayers.
View attachment 4901044
Add it to your water before adding the nutes and you’re golden.
Thanks a million @CaliWorthington
Thank YOU!!! I knew it had to be something like this. You sir are not a cannafag. Cheers.
 

dtm1182

Member
I had this same experience, and here’s what I learned. True RO water, being completely deplete of all minerals and contaminants will actually start to absorb minerals and nutrients from whatever it contacts. I was using softened well water for a RDWC setup, and was having issues with the water because the softener uses salt. I put in an RO system, and drained my entire system. I refilled straight RO water (1ppm tds, 0ec) thinking I would add my nutrients after I knew exactly how much water I had put in. In the time it took to refill, all my plants had wilted. Luckily I was only week 1 of veg. I did a bunch of research about RO water, and learned about people who drink too much RO water developing osteoporosis, brittle bones, teeth, hair, and nails. That was my ah ha moment, the water was pulling all the nutrients and minerals out of the plants. My solution was simple, mix my nutrient solution in a separate container, then add to the system. I’m using advanced nutrients ph perfect. I mix in a 10 gallon the RO water, and my micro, grow, and bloom. I add that to my system, and then put all other additives directly into the RDWC feed buckets. It works perfectly. Advanced nutrients specifically suggests in their videos, that it’s best to use RO water with their ph perfect nutes, it will work with almost any water, but is designed for, and most effective with RO water. Hope this helps others who might experience this.
 
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