Rain water and tap water discussion

[Creeperpark]

First real rain in forever two days ago now. The rain water, at first, was a deep dark yellow color! I Dumped out many gallons until the water showed clear. I even sprayed the roof with hose water to clean before the rain. Didn’t seem to work.

An important thing people overlook is after dumping old rainwater, the can will still leave behind a ppm residue. After setting in summertime the dust and green algae will stick to the sides of the barrels. You need to wash that out with a brush and clean the heck out of the rain barrels. If you don't the rain ppm will rise quickly with the new rainwater. When I clean my barrow real good I get 4 ppm water and keep it for a long time.

 

[Creeperpark]

I hear a lot of talk about calcium carbonate will not break down in the water. And it's true because any alkalinity that's already in the water will only make the calcium bond stronger. However not in rainwater the carbonic acid breaks the bond and allows the calcium to release into solute.

Does calcium carbonate break down in water?
Calcium carbonate does not dissolve in pure water but is soluble in rainwater due to the presence of dissolved atmospheric carbon dioxide that lowers down the pH of water making it slightly acidic. Most metal carbonates do not dissolve in water. Google

 

[Growenhaft]

One thing is for sure that changing the water in the middle of a growth is hard for plants.

no matter how you change around... whether from rainwater to tap water with medium to high degree of hardness. or from such tap water to rainwater. the only exception is if the tap water has a very low mineral content... to ec 0.2.

this is due to the fact that our plants are oriented towards the existing stock. if there is a lot of calcium magnesium and other trace elements present in the water, these are easily and abundantly available... the plant will not excrete separate acids via its root excretions in order to dissolve these nutrients from the soil... or have to trade with bodenleben... their doors for these nutrients are only a crack wide open...
such a plant is suddenly watered with rainwater or RO water... these minerals are missing... the plant that has relied on it receives too few of these nutrients... it has to open the door further for this... and active trade or dissolve minerals from the soil via the acids. the plant then often shows relatively quickly a deficiency of the minerals otherwise present in the tap water... first magnesium then calcium then boron and iron and then the rest.
so the plant adapts to the new situation... such deficiencies should not be corrected... the plant creates this on its own after a few days... by focusing on it... because the medium which was previously always poured with rich minerals will still have plenty of them available... the plant just has to adjust to it... and it will.

after we have poured the plant a few times with rain or ro water... the plant has opened the doors wide for these minerals... now we suddenly water again with a medium to hard water degree. What happens... the plant absorbs more of these minerals than it needs... other minerals such as nitrogen and phosphorus can suddenly be locked out... because the density of minerals for which the door is wide open are preferably absorbed.

one botches through this change no matter in which direction of the plant in the craft...

what makes a good grower is that the plant can rely on consistency... that you support the nutrient supply... but not torpeted.

if you water with rainwater it makes sense to choose a fairly large pot volume at the end... to really offer sufficient space the roots... so that they can better accomplish their task of supplying themselves with these minerals... they should repot openly. then there is rainwater... if not too heavily contaminated (which could become a real problem by now) certainly the best water... what for my find also the best taste
(wider terpene image) and otherwise during the grow everything went smoothly.. causes... but tastes are different.

who works with smaller pots... whether organic or mineral... an EC value of 0.45 with a ratio of calcium/magnesium 3:1 has proven to be a truly safe bank for the security of supply of the plant. it is important that the pH value also has stability in the water supply depending on the medium. Also important to know... ro water which was brought by cal/mag products to an ec of 0.45 as a starting value... often lacks other trace elements

because these are not present in most cal/mag products. if you add fertilizer to such water, you often have the problem that certain nutrients which are present in excess of the trace elements completely exclude ... they are then not available to the plant... because it uses the fertilizer in the water directly from the water... and not from the medium... but which it would have to do to accommodate the missing trace elements... but they.

because the root excretions are immediately completely covered with the excess minerals... and then picks them up again without really being able to solve trace elements.

the most important thing is stability... no matter in which direction... it is also the reason why growers who are initially very hesitant and dare to do nothing about the plant but leave it alone... and always pour only water constantly... often achieve excellent results with their first grow. often this is also the best passage for a long time... because then you try this and that... and that still has to be poured in and there is still a leaf fertilization...

usually too many additives cause the medium to lose stability... the acid/alkaline balance collapses... they often ensure in abundance that the medium becomes unstable... exactly the opposite of what a good grower wants...
if you correct the pH value.. or increase the fertilizer dosage... then you have to take the plant with you on a journey... it is slowly moving in the desired direction... so that the plant can react and is not presented with a fait accompli. it must be able to open or close its doors for all minerals in the right dosage... you have to pull them away from the old value in case of ph problems and slowly go towards the new value. if you meet so much of the plant.. then the plant will always follow you. bad is for plants a serious change of conditions... from ph 7 full throttle down to ph 6.2 on earth for example... suddenly from now on all minerals and nutrients dissolve in a completely different ratio... the doors of the plant are not set correctly... this is how you mess up the plant. let your plants go along with every step... then nutrient exclusion and over-fertilization are a thing of the past.

Rest Patience Stability... is currently available in the advantage pack in every good growshop... also available in the light version

 

[ButterflyEffect]

No effect with rain or your well water. Only water that has been treated with chemicals like tap.

Very good to know. Thanks!

 

[Three Berries]

I hear a lot of talk about calcium carbonate will not break down in the water. And it's true because any alkalinity that's already in the water will only make the calcium bond stronger. However not in rainwater the carbonic acid breaks the bond and allows the calcium to release into solute.

Does calcium carbonate break down in water?
Calcium carbonate does not dissolve in pure water but is soluble in rainwater due to the presence of dissolved atmospheric carbon dioxide that lowers down the pH of water making it slightly acidic. Most metal carbonates do not dissolve in water. Google

I can get about 40ppm (40mg/L) of MgCO3 to dissolve in my rain water.

 

[xet]

I wonder what the water is like near this natural uranium reactor in Gabon West Africa.

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com...estern-africa/

That article just blew my mind

 

[Creeperpark]

When I ran out of rainwater and switched to RO because of drought, I used the exact same nutrient formula as I did with the rainwater. The problem which appeared was too low of an amount of calcium & magnesium uptake because the cal-mag didn't dissolve in the RO water. Now that I got plenty of extra rainwater and switched back again the 2nd time the plants suffered a great deal.
Here are the plants after switching water 2 times. Today

 

[blondie]

You definitely have some burnt leaf edges and tips creepy but overall not looking bad. Should finish well now that your water is good again.

 

[Creeperpark]

When I mixed cal-mag or calcium & magnesium carbonate into the RO water after switching from rainwater, it would not dissolve. After 3 waterings I could see a problem with magnesium uptake, so I add more ppm. My plants started showing signs of water change. Now they are coming back for the better with rain water again. The buds are getting heavy with resin.

 

[Cerathule]

https://pubs.usgs. gov/wsp/1535g/report.pdf (link intentionally broken repair if interested in reading the report on rain water)

confirming there's hardly any N in rain
it's in the .pdf

 

[Creeperpark]

Since nitrogen makes up 79 % of the air we breathe from the atmosphere, "nitrates" will end up in the water. Nitrates are our friends.

Rainwater contains small amounts of nitrogen in the form of nitrogen gas (N2), ammonium (NH4) and nitrates (NOx). Nitrogen gas is a very stable two-atom molecule that doesn't easily interact with other atoms or molecules. Microbes take the nitrates and convert them into stuff the plant can use, otherwise they would lay there unused. ...

The air we breathe is 79.02 % nitrogen
The composition of inhaled air is 20.94 % oxygen, 0.04 % carbon dioxide, 79.02 % nitrogen and trace gases. Google

 

[acespicoli]

After having many problems with tap water from a municipal source "city water" and rainwater making the plants thrive, rainwater is without a doubt the winner
The question answer format from google was a nice touch @Creeperpark thanks for sharing that
Cant knock rainwater until you've tried it, I think youll all be glad you did, works well with super soil

 

[blondie]

Right now where I am is the first real daytime rain we’ve had in many months. It’s not a hard drenching rain but a steady lighter type. It’s also not a 15 minute shower. I can already see garden plants perking up.

 

[Creeperpark]

Since I ran into problems with this grow due to water supply, I'm going to speed through it. Yesterday I started rainwater only with every watering to finish this grow. The plants are in their 6 weeks of flowering. These are already killer. Here are today's bud shots.

 

[Three Berries]

If there is lightning when it's raining the N content will be much higher than just he normal rain. Any free N would be binding with H and making nitric acid.

 

[Creeperpark]

I'm only using rainwater without anything in it to speed the plants up. The weight of the tops are bending the stems and the plants are starting to lean they can't hold any more weight.

 

[ozzieAI]

rainwater is easier, i don't ever adjust ph regardless if growing organic or full hydro. the only thing i add is calcium, in one form or another, to bring EC up.

last time i used town water i did get seasonal variations (EC, ph) and i always needed ph down...

if ya stems aren't bending, you are doing it wrong....

 

[Creeperpark]

rainwater is easier, i don't ever adjust ph regardless if growing organic or full hydro. the only thing i add is calcium, in one form or another, to bring EC up.

last time i used town water i did get seasonal variations (EC, ph) and i always needed ph down...

if ya stems aren't bending, you are doing it wrong....

I had to stake one plant and tie the sagging tops with some wire ties. Its a good thing.

 

[moose eater]

Study finds that rainwater no longer safe to drink anywhere on Earth

A recent study published in the journal "Environmental Science and Technology" found rainwater is no longer safe to drink anywhere on Earth.

www.denver7.com

 

[moose eater]

I was referred to the study above in a more general gardening conversation, but also within that conversation, the issue of metals and other materials used in collecting rainwater was added to the talk.

Not all roofing materials/metals are safe, and not all rain troughs/gutters are made of safe materials where human/animal/plant consumption of H2O is concerned.

Used to be spring water was as good as it got, in most cases, (ie., mineralization and clean water via moving filtration, all in one), with rainwater as a close second best.

We seem to have impacted that somewhat with PFAS, etc..