The Water Thread

[TCH]

I am on a well. I have a water softener. I have an undersink RO system.

I am currently using the RO water with MaxiGrow and MaxiBloom separately with calmag added. I also recently got a sample of the Megacrop but haven't used it yet.

ETA: I failed to mention, I grow indoors, in coco, with a reservoir.

I want to ask the question for me, but also generalize it for the masses.

If I remember correctly, unfiltered water out of the hose hydrant runs between 350-450ppm and fluctuates day to day to a degree.

RO water comes out between 0-10ppm depending on filters.

Softened water from the faucets is a little less than the hydrant but can't remember exact numbers. I can check this evening.

Would I be better off running something like the Boogie-Blue filter on my unsoftened hose water for feed, softened water, or the RO water?

My understanding is that a filter such as the BB doesn't really lower the ppm, maybe 10% or so, but it removes sediments and chlorine and chloramine. Being a well, I don't need to worry about anything other than the sediments I'd imagine. If that's the case, just use an inexpensive charcoal filter for removing sediment?

The more I thinknabout cleaning up and organizing my grow, I'd really like to cut down on time and effort put into the daily and weekly tasks and I feel like being able to procure as much water as I wanted when I wanted would be a great way to start. The RO system just takes forever to get any quantity of water and the extra step/cost of calmag could theoretically be eliminated.

On the flipside, I do have an old faucet and drain in the grow area that I could retrofit to be able to do my filling and stuff right in the room. However, it is softened water. Is there a good filter system that un-fucks softened water for plants?

Thank you in advance.

 

[ALPHA.GanjaGuy]

I use tap water that I let sit to get to room temp, I don't bother checking my water and haven't had any issues running my mostly organic soil grow..

looking up issues with soft water it seems the only concern is if it has high levels of sodium

 

[Johnny Lawrence]

Indoor, I'm hydro

On my outdoor plants, which are just sort of a meh whatever kind of side project, I run peat perlite with Maxibloom and SD tap. SD tap is close to 600ppm, maybe more. PH is always dialed - starting pH is like 8 or something. I do t crush it outside, but the plants still turn out pretty nice.

 

[TCH]

I failed to mention, I grow indoors, in coco, with a reservoir.

 

[Drop That Sound]

I run to town once or twice every few weeks and fill up all my jugs & portable RV water tanks at like 3-5 different parks/locations in my truck. Free public water service.. getting my tax moneys worth. The park managers let me back right up to the faucets at one place

It fits in with my schedule too so its not that big of deal. Water day..yep. I can pump it out into barrels with a 12v rv pump hooked to my truck battery, and save my back too, but I like the excersize of handling the buckets most the time. Our well water smells and leaves orange stains on everything, blah. Town is 15 minutes away, and takes 10 miutes to stop and fill up, compared to waiting a day for an RO system or whatever.

Someday I'll get a huge tank to haul, big as I can without needing special permits... I don't think the city would like seeing me fill up 100s of gallons though, lol.

 

[shnkrmn]

I grow on my second floor. The closest water source is my bathtub which runs softened water. When I need water, 15 gallons at a time, I hit the bypass valve on my water softener, run the tub for a minute to purge softened water from the supply line, then fill my res with temporarily hard water and I never need to add back cal mag. If your water supply is super high ppm it doesn't mean you should go straight ro ever. Just causes problems.

 

[Jjgrow420]

If your waters hard warm it up it'll melt and become soft again
Too soft? Toss it in the freezer it'll harden up within a few hours.
You're welcome

Science rules!

 

[calvin.m16]

I have stuck with RO simply because there is nothing in it if the system is functioning properly. The trade off is using salts which tend to mix acidic you need to buy and use pH UP products to keep the pH from being too acidic. Potassium Hydroxide, Potassium Carbonate etc..

Then you also need to make sure your base fertilizer has adequate Iron, sulfur, if your medium doesn't have it which in coco it will not have enough if any? I have to use CaliMagic (Calcium Carbonate, Magnesium Nitrate, Iron DTPA), Armor Si (Potassium Silicate) to keep pH stable and improve the water quality with RO.

My reasoning for RO is my well water is bad, not an option, even with sediment/carbon filtration. Too much head scratching and things do not stay nearly as clean as far as pots, trays, plumbing goes compared to RO.

It's all preference and situation, if I could pump ice cold well water into a reservoir and use it I would, but in my case I have shitty well water and you should not use softened water if it uses salt because that can kill your plants. Too much sodium will make your plants shitty.

 

[calvin.m16]

I grow on my second floor. The closest water source is my bathtub which runs softened water. When I need water, 15 gallons at a time, I hit the bypass valve on my water softener, run the tub for a minute to purge softened water from the supply line, then fill my res with temporarily hard water and I never need to add back cal mag. If your water supply is super high ppm it doesn't mean you should go straight ro ever. Just causes problems.

In short you use Well Water. Some people don't have good well water, not every well is the same.

If you understand that your working with demineralized pure h2o you can fine tune it to be the perfect water regardless of where you're at. Sets a good control point. Good data reference, compared to most feed charts using municipal water to give guidelines on how much fertilizer to use.

 

[hotrodharley]

I am on a well. I have a water softener. I have an undersink RO system.

I am currently using the RO water with MaxiGrow and MaxiBloom separately with calmag added. I also recently got a sample of the Megacrop but haven't used it yet.

ETA: I failed to mention, I grow indoors, in coco, with a reservoir.

I want to ask the question for me, but also generalize it for the masses.

If I remember correctly, unfiltered water out of the hose hydrant runs between 350-450ppm and fluctuates day to day to a degree.

RO water comes out between 0-10ppm depending on filters.

Softened water from the faucets is a little less than the hydrant but can't remember exact numbers. I can check this evening.

Would I be better off running something like the Boogie-Blue filter on my unsoftened hose water for feed, softened water, or the RO water?

My understanding is that a filter such as the BB doesn't really lower the ppm, maybe 10% or so, but it removes sediments and chlorine and chloramine. Being a well, I don't need to worry about anything other than the sediments I'd imagine. If that's the case, just use an inexpensive charcoal filter for removing sediment?

The more I thinknabout cleaning up and organizing my grow, I'd really like to cut down on time and effort put into the daily and weekly tasks and I feel like being able to procure as much water as I wanted when I wanted would be a great way to start. The RO system just takes forever to get any quantity of water and the extra step/cost of calmag could theoretically be eliminated.

On the flipside, I do have an old faucet and drain in the grow area that I could retrofit to be able to do my filling and stuff right in the room. However, it is softened water. Is there a good filter system that un-fucks softened water for plants?

Thank you in advance.

If you’re on a well are you also on a septic system?

 

[TCH]

If you’re on a well are you also on a septic system?

I am on septic

 

[shnkrmn]

In short you use Well Water. Some people don't have good well water, not every well is the same.

In short? Where do you get that? In short I'm on city water, 288 ppm and 7.1 pH from the tap. I use only Maxibloom and pH DOWN to make my nutrient solution. I've grown with RO in hydro and, for me, it's more fuss than it's worth.

 

[Highway61]

I am on a well. I have a water softener. I have an undersink RO system.

I am currently using the RO water with MaxiGrow and MaxiBloom separately with calmag added. I also recently got a sample of the Megacrop but haven't used it yet.

ETA: I failed to mention, I grow indoors, in coco, with a reservoir.

I want to ask the question for me, but also generalize it for the masses.

If I remember correctly, unfiltered water out of the hose hydrant runs between 350-450ppm and fluctuates day to day to a degree.

RO water comes out between 0-10ppm depending on filters.

Softened water from the faucets is a little less than the hydrant but can't remember exact numbers. I can check this evening.

Would I be better off running something like the Boogie-Blue filter on my unsoftened hose water for feed, softened water, or the RO water?

My understanding is that a filter such as the BB doesn't really lower the ppm, maybe 10% or so, but it removes sediments and chlorine and chloramine. Being a well, I don't need to worry about anything other than the sediments I'd imagine. If that's the case, just use an inexpensive charcoal filter for removing sediment?

The more I thinknabout cleaning up and organizing my grow, I'd really like to cut down on time and effort put into the daily and weekly tasks and I feel like being able to procure as much water as I wanted when I wanted would be a great way to start. The RO system just takes forever to get any quantity of water and the extra step/cost of calmag could theoretically be eliminated.

On the flipside, I do have an old faucet and drain in the grow area that I could retrofit to be able to do my filling and stuff right in the room. However, it is softened water. Is there a good filter system that un-fucks softened water for plants?

Thank you in advance.

Our situation is similar to yours. We get our water from a well. 850 ppm or so direct from the well. We have a softener and an RO filter.

So of the three kinds of water we have, we use the RO water. I've tried mixing in a bit of well water to get some of the minerally goodness but I couldn't tell if that ever made a difference.

I now use straight RO water with MaxiBloom, cal mag and silica. Seems to have everything in it get to the finish line.

In order have adequate RO water when needed, you could have a res and float valve in your grow area connected to your RO filter. Plastic tubing, connectors, float valve and check valves are cheap.

 

[TCH]

In order have adequate RO water when needed, you could have a res and float valve in your grow area connected to your RO filter. Plastic tubing, connectors, float valve and check valves are cheap.

This is something I am considering doing with the leftover plumbing from the tub I removed. The issue is still space.

I see a lot of people using the ArmorSi and other similar products. What exactly is the need for that? Admittedly, my plants havent been perfect, but they do seem to do well. Is the Si something needed with RO?

 

[Highway61]

This is something I am considering doing with the leftover plumbing from the tub I removed. The issue is still space.

I see a lot of people using the ArmorSi and other similar products. What exactly is the need for that? Admittedly, my plants havent been perfect, but they do seem to do well. Is the Si something needed with RO?

I don't think it is necessary but it helps with ph. And is supposed to have other benefits.

 

[sandman83]

This is something I am considering doing with the leftover plumbing from the tub I removed. The issue is still space.

I see a lot of people using the ArmorSi and other similar products. What exactly is the need for that? Admittedly, my plants havent been perfect, but they do seem to do well. Is the Si something needed with RO?

Armor SI is potassium silicate to add silica for the plant. My understanding is for strengthening the branches/stems, increased heat/environmental stress resistance. It is highly basic and will raise the PH, take care to dilute it and not let concentrated salts interact as they will form a nasty compound.

Calmag is added by default to my RO water to bring it back to levels, armor si I've been advised to drop after veg.

 

[7CardBud]

Collecting rainwater is another option. Depending on your location, items like IBCs and food grade barrels can be had for short money.

 

[hotrodharley]

I am on septic

Your RO system is filling it up. For 5 gallons of RO you’re probably dumping 35 into the septic system.

 

[hotrodharley]

Collecting rainwater is another option. Depending on your location, items like IBCs and food grade barrels can be had for short money.

The used pickle barrels and the like can usually be had for free.

 

[7CardBud]

The used pickle barrels and the like can usually be had for free.

I have a salad dressing Co. near by, if I toss in some money over the deposit price they let me grab containers. $125 for a 275 gallon IBC and $20 for a 55 barrel.