Rain water and tap water discussion

[Creeperpark]

No fertilizer. Just rain water.

This is what you said in the above post. Go back and read it! "So far one watering of 1/2 nutes and some Ca/Mg chloride. And rainwater today".
If you are going to give miss information and not remember what you write, please don't advise others to do the same. You burnt the piss out of your plant. I tried to tell you and you didn't listen?

 

[Creeperpark]

There is no need for fertilizer when using "Rainwater and FoxFarms Potting mixes". IF you do you will burn your plants. Small plants should stay in small containers until they deplete all the nutrients. Then up-potted to a larger size container with fresh FoxFarms potting mix. Dixie cups are up-potted to 1gallon pots, up-potted to 3 gallon or bigger pots.. Don't allow discharge out of the containers to hold the nutrients longer. Rainwater is all you need for a couple of months. When the plant's EC drops low in the last container then you give fertilizer.

Here's a 14-day-old Happy Frog plant getting rain-only in the dixie cups. I will try to demonstrate this method to show you what I'm talking about.

 

[Three Berries]

This is what you said in the above post. Go back and read it! "So far one watering of 1/2 nutes and some Ca/Mg chloride. And rainwater today".
If you are going to give miss information and not remember what you write, please don't advise others to do the same. You burnt the piss out of your plant. I tried to tell you and you didn't listen?

I did that because they were yellow from the pure seedling peat when I transplanted into the bigger pot. They got ~ 2 oz of 1/2 nute water. And they BOTH got it.

So the issue here is Ocean Forest vs Happy Frog and rain water. I should have used my hard well water from the start with the Ocean Forest as I use to do.

My last three grows have all suffered from calcium issues and it is because I quit using the well water. My evolving treatments is going to be 50/50 well/rain water through veg then rain with nutes when needed. I have done this before but not in tents.

 

[Creeperpark]

I did that because they were yellow from the pure seedling peat when I transplanted into the bigger pot. They got ~ 2 oz of 1/2 nute water. And they BOTH got it.

So the issue here is Ocean Forest vs Happy Frog and rain water. I should have used my hard well water from the start with the Ocean Forest as I use to do.

My last three grows have all suffered from calcium issues and it is because I quit using the well water. My evolving treatments is going to be 50/50 well/rain water through veg then rain with nutes when needed. I have done this before but not in tents.

Some of the things you say can be helpful but when you change what you say on a thread, it tells me one of two things. 1. you don't remember what you last posted, or 2. you don't know what you are talking about. If you don't recognize your mistakes correctly your information will be inaccurate and if you recommend that to someone you will give rainwater a bad name. Rain water is not for Dummies it's for smart people that know how to get the most out of their crops.

 

[blondie]

Hi @StickyBandit . Welcome to the rainwater thread! Not sure your watering method for soil but give a thought to rainwater. Might improve your already awesome grows.

3B: hopefully you are getting your environment and system dialed in. Keep at it. I’m changing up my methods as well and trying to dial it In. So far my pure rain water grow is doing great, but maybe a bit slow. My ka5h was sown same day as sticky bandit so I’m comparing to his, though I’m outside and he’s inside.

I’m going to up pot today or tomorrow, I’m still deciding to put in final 5 gallon fabric or or smaller pot. I’ll get some pictures though of the roots. This is the first grow I have NOT broken up the peat when up potting. I just set the pellet in with soil, similar to what you did. Usually I carefully remove peat until a very small amount is left clinging to the small root ball. I know others reading this may say this is crazy as I’ll damage the root but so far I have not had issues. I firmly believe removing the mesh netting from the pellet helps. It can’t hurt... you can see that this method works, even with tap water. Check the attached.

 

[StickyBandit]

Hi @StickyBandit . Welcome to the rainwater thread! Not sure your watering method for soil but give a thought to rainwater. Might improve your already awesome grows.

3B: hopefully you are getting your environment and system dialed in. Keep at it. I’m changing up my methods as well and trying to dial it In. So far my pure rain water grow is doing great, but maybe a bit slow. My ka5h was sown same day as sticky bandit so I’m comparing to his, though I’m outside and he’s inside.

I’m going to up pot today or tomorrow, I’m still deciding to put in final 5 gallon fabric or or smaller pot. I’ll get some pictures though of the roots. This is the first grow I have NOT broken up the peat when up potting. I just set the pellet in with soil, similar to what you did. Usually I carefully remove peat until a very small amount is left clinging to the small root ball. I know others reading this may say this is crazy as I’ll damage the root but so far I have not had issues. I firmly believe removing the mesh netting from the pellet helps. It can’t hurt... you can see that this method works, even with tap water. Check the attached.

Thanks bud will give it a read. I'm always interested in learning new things
I should mention I'm on tank water already and only get a top up with town water when the droughts come in summer

On another note, I tried airpots but they aren't easy for me to use. For my method of watering I let the soil dry out for a few days 50mm + deep and then flood the top by suddenly pouring on a 2L container of water which forces it's way down evenly. With air or fabric pots it just pours out the sides
I don't have time to water each one in evenly with a watering can once they start to drink properly

 

[blondie]

Thanks bud will give it a read. I'm always interested in learning new things
I should mention I'm on tank water already and only get a top up with town water when the droughts come in summer

On another note, I tried airpots but they aren't easy for me to use. For my method of watering I let the soil dry out for a few days 50mm + deep and then flood the top by suddenly pouring on a 2L container of water which forces it's way down evenly. With air or fabric pots it just pours out the sides
I don't have time to water each one in evenly with a watering can once they start to drink properly

I wonder if you placed the airpot in a container and dumped 2L of water into it with each watering. I wonder if it would wick up evenly. I do know what you mean though, leaking out the sides. When I water I need to take time and care to get things even.

 

[Three Berries]

Fimmed them both the other day. The first one was the burnt one, took off 4 leaves and have gone though 2 L of hard well water with some Nutralime added. Nutralime actually buffered down the 7.4 hard water to 7.0 with the mix. Got a 3 week auto with a root to the bottom so it's going into a 5L pot tomorrow.

I though I did a most excellent job of the Fimm on #2. It's the Happy Frog soil and rainwater test dummy. 10 days behind the other.

 

[Creeperpark]

That's looking good TB. Here's some 14-day-old Indica I germinated in Happy Frog and rainwater only.

 

[AllStuff420]

Rainwater is preferable. Every time you water, it's like a light fertilizer treatment. Nitrates, an essential macronutrient, are found in rain. Nitrate, the most bio-available type of nitrogen, is found in rainwater. Nitrogen is one of the three essential macronutrients for plant growth, and it is required for the formation of lush foliage.

 

[Creeperpark]

Allstuff420 you are sure right about Nitrates in the water. Nitrogen makes up 78% of the air we breathe and is in everything, especially water. Plants can't process nitrogen from the air and water without the help of bacteria breaking it down first. So in order to move through the different parts of the cycle, nitrogen must change forms to be soluble. The nitrates from the air are converted quickly by bacteria and microbes and turned into stuff the plant loves,.

One time I put an Ivy plant in a low ppm peat mix and never fed it and it still grew for years. I was amazed how it grew like crazy without me giving any plant food to the plant. The reason is that the Nitrogen Cycle supplied enough nitrogen from the air and water for the plant to thrive. No need for Ammonium nitrate! If you got two minutes check this out.

 

[blondie]

Sadly I’m seeing a bit of issue on some leaves on my current grow. Im thinking something with transplant shock maybe or copper deficient. Any guesses? Other than that not at all sure.

 

[Creeperpark]

Sadly I’m seeing a bit of issue on some leaves on my current grow. Im thinking something with transplant shock maybe or copper deficient. Any guesses? Other than that not at all sure.

It's a watering issue causing the bronzing on the leaves. . I noticed you have a lot of perlite in that soil mix Blondie. Did you add some to your soil?

 

[blondie]

It's a watering issue causing the bronzing on the leaves. . I noticed you have a lot of perlite in that soil mix Blondie. Did you add some to your soil?

Yes perlite is added. Coast of Maine is quite heavy and I add perlite to the mix. I’ve really been careful watering. I didn’t think this was over watered, If anything maybe a bit of under watering. Only rain, not overly nuted.

 

[Creeperpark]

Too much perlite in potting soil will cause water to drain out too quickly. A possible sign of too much perlite is when the plant starts the shrivel or yellow and the soil remains dry even though you water regularly. Coast of Maine has many potting mixes that are natural and organic. Adding perlite to the mix will lower its quality and can minimize its value. The best way to use quality organic mixes is pure soil with smaller containers for better water management.

 

[Creeperpark]

The best way to use organic Coast of Maine potting soils is by starting with small containers. When the plant outgrows the small container then up pott to the next size up. If you put a small plant in a large container of Coast of Maine it will hold too much water, People try to remedy this by cutting the potting mix with perlite instead of using the right size container. Organic soils need smaller containers because of the High EC and extra water holding capacity.
Here is an example of starting small in an organic soil container. If these 14-day-old plants were in 3-gallon pots it would be too much water and nutrients for the little plants. Just rainwater and organic soil.

 

[Creeperpark]

The plants above still hold enough water for 2 days easily. When the need to water every day comes, I will up-pot into 1-gallon pots to expand the watering time.

 

[blondie]

Mine were in small containers, not over watered.

 

[Creeperpark]

When these plants need to be watered every day it's time to transplant them into a larger container using the same potting soil. I want 2 or 3-day intervals between watering so the plant can have wet to dry cycles. If a small plant is put into a large container the soil can have a hard time drying out in those few days. Plants need dry times as much as they need wet time.

 

[Three Berries]

It's been dry for the last two weeks with no rain. But I still had 50 gallons or so stashed in the barrels outside. Going to get a good rain today. So I drained the barrels and will bypass them with the first 20 minutes of rain so the roof gets washed off.

I know the shingles have copper sulfate in them for anti algae, who knows what else has settled there.