From RO to Tap Water

[TripleDraw27]

This is my 4th grow, and at the very beginning had a friend sell me his extras. One being an RO system.

My medium is Soil, and I do supplement my Cal and Mg. I have always had sucess with it. But now, I am just tired of the process and seeing all that excess water wasted. Plus it fills my gutters out front which I feel is a slight security issue.


My question is - Can I switch to tap mid- flower? And if so, do I still supply my cal/mag, or more of a every few+ waterings?

Thanks guys/gals

 

[BigDawg]

depends on the quality of your tap. Do you know the ec/ppm of your tap water? also if you use tap water you need a de-chlorinator to filter the chlorine out. Some say you can let it sit in a bucket 24+ hours with an airstone to let the chlorine evaporate but i'm not sure if it works.

 

[TripleDraw27]

depends on the quality of your tap. Do you know the ec/ppm of your tap water? also if you use tap water you need a de-chlorinator to filter the chlorine out. Some say you can let it sit in a bucket 24+ hours with an airstone to let the chlorine evaporate but i'm not sure if it works.

All I know about the tap is, its around 7.0 - 7.5ish
And no I do not have a de chlorinator. Hmm I will check out some methods of removing Chlorination.

TY BigDawg

 

[FreezerBoy]

You tap sounds fine. No need to dechlorinate, happens all by itself. My old tap was 0.5 EC and growing was a breeze. My new tap is less than 0.1EC (my Truncheon wont even turn on) and growing is a nightmare. I don't even want to think of RO.

 

[qupee]

This is relevant to my interests ...

You tap sounds fine. No need to dechlorinate, happens all by itself. My old tap was 0.5 EC and growing was a breeze. My new tap is less than 0.1EC (my Truncheon wont even turn on) and growing is a nightmare. I don't even want to think of RO.

Why do you think you are having more problems with your new 0.1EC tap vs. the old 0.5EC?


Personally, my tap is about 0.14EC and comes out between 7-8 pH. My uncertainty is in how to handle Cal & Mag... I'm a bit of a noob still with feeding

I used to get RO at the store but that's not feasible anymore, so I just keep a handful of 5 gals bubbling with tap so there's always enough ready. I can smell chlorine in the tap, but not after maybe 8 hours of bubbling.

 

[CheifnBud2]

If you are supplementing with cal/mag i assume you are using chemical nutrients in soil.

If this is the case a de-chlorination is not really necessary, but certainly would not hurt.

you can simply fill up buckets and let them sit out 24-48 hrs... Preferably with a bubbler.

There should be a good amount of calcium in the tap, but im not sure about magnesium.

 

[FreezerBoy]

This is relevant to my interests ...

Why do you think you are having more problems with your new 0.1EC tap vs. the old 0.5EC?

I recently moved cross country. I was taught never to pack liquids for cross country moves. Since the move, all equipment and procedures have remained identical, all liquids are fresh bottles of what I used previously. The only difference is the water.

I haven't lost a single clone in 15 years or more. Since the move, every cut has died. Previously I could get pH to drop 0.5 over the course of two weeks. Here pH climbs 1.0-1.5 every day even though I'm grossly overfeeding (according to previous experience.)

I know the new tap is mag deficient (general yellowing before MgSO4, with MgSO4 leaves are so dark green they're almost blue) who knows what else I'm missing that used to provide pH buffering.

 

[Ziggaro]

damn freezer boy never would have expected you to say that

fuck tap I'm never going back alkalinity problems always killed my harvest

 

[Rukind]

if you are having problems with ph buffering, use potassium carbonate and citric acid to balance ph. this provides a buffer.

if your are cal/mag deficient use calmag+ or epsom salts if only mag.

 

[FreezerBoy]

damn freezer boy never would have expected you to say that

Color me confused. Just reporting the news. What was unexpected?