Water: Rain, Snow, Pond/Stream

[Tri_Cho_Me]

*I did cross post this in the Indoor Growing area because I'm an indoor grower, but it may reach a better audience in the Outdoor area. I apologize if you see this twice.


I wanted to propose a question to the group out of curiosity.
I of course have tap water, and have researched enough to understand pH, nutrients, etc.

Has anyone ever thought of using natural forms of water for their indoor grows? I am thinking of collecting rain water, snow in the winter, or even pond/stream water. Just to save money when at all possible.

Obviously I would still need to check the pH of them all, but does anyone have any thoughts or recommendations? I am thinking of the cost savings as well as organic side of it.

With the pond water, I would obviously need to make sure no run off was affecting the source such as farm chemicals and pesticide. Other than that, anything I would need to watch out for? Would the natural pond water act as nutrients at all?

Thanks for your tips, tricks and suggestions!

Tri_Cho_Me

 

[DuskrayTroubador]

My main concern regarding tap water is that the chlorine in it will kill the bacteria in your soil.

I get water from a spring and haul that shit in.

 

[wh1t3w1dow1]

best bet is probably to get your water tested. i've vegged indoors with 8.0ph wellwater and 300ppm (mostly calcium and mag maybe, dunno never tested) and flowered outdoors with good results. i'm running fairly big pots with organic soil so it probably balances it out. indoors w/ organics in a controlled environment is probably a different situation

 

[Tri_Cho_Me]

I would think some pond water wood be kick ass but I could be wrong. Just seems like it would have a lot of good minerals in it, not to mention a lot of rotting stuff for food like, fish and plant material.

 

[DuskrayTroubador]

I would think some pond water wood be kick ass but I could be wrong. Just seems like it would have a lot of good minerals in it, not to mention a lot of rotting stuff for food like, fish and plant material.

Be careful. If the pond water is stagnant, you could be in trouble.

 

[jtk707]

If you have a pond in mind . Take a sample and have t tested . Most counties do it for free . Just tell them it's a well sample . I would wait several days after rain to get water from a pond as runoff from roads and other sources of foul chemicals could be higher in concentration after a rain . Good luck

 

[Tri_Cho_Me]

Thanks guys! Anxious to start growing. Filter and Light should be here later this week!

 

[moritzst]

collected rain d be the best of course, same like osmosis, the pondwater will differ by temperature in quality so if possible go for the rain.

greez

 

[Tri_Cho_Me]

collected rain d be the best of course, same like osmosis, the pondwater will differ by temperature in quality so if possible go for the rain.

greez

Thanks, dude. Appreciate it!

 

[Tri_Cho_Me]

Collected my first couple gallons of rainwater this week!

I left a bucket out overnight, as well as put a bowl at the end of a downspout from my house. It is right outside my front door, and only collects water from a portion of the the roof, so it's not an obscene amount of water flow. I left the bowl there 5 or 6 times and it only took 10-20 minutes to fill each time.

I bought a funnel that has a screen in the bottom, so if any debris was in my bucket, leaves fell in, etc. I could just have the pure rain water. I was surprised at how much I collected with little effort.

Tri_Cho_Me

 

[Tynehead Tom]

the problem with collecting from the downspouts of roofs is related to toxic leaching.
Roof materials are made of many different things, mine are tar and gravel shingles over membrane. Observing a clean 5 gallon pail after collecting a days worth of rain water, reveals a very faint oily film in the surface of the water. That ain't going in my plants.
Instead, I have a couple of those cheapo kids pools , the 1 foot high, 5 foot wide plastic ones. I empty them with a small and very portable 12volt bilge pump thru a filter into 50 gallon blue plastic barrels. Lets me have a good supply of water that is as good as using RO filtered water. This season with way higher than average rainfall, the 50 gallons barrels have been full enough to easily run the entire season and looks like I'll have enough that when I empty them before freeze up, I'll have enough to fill over a dozen 5 gallon pails to seal and use indoors instead of RO , which I buy in town at 1.00 per 5gallon fill.

the problems with creeks, lakes, ponds ect is you never know unless you test it. Any form of industrial or resource harvesting in an area can mess with water quality and leave it unstable in both PH and mineral content. Some areas near mining operations can have water that is just no good. Where I'm at, very high alkalinity is the most common trait of local natural water supplies so even though I could drive a short distance to a number of surrounding lakes and gather all the water I could ever need, I don't.
rain water is super easy.

 

[Tri_Cho_Me]

Yea, I'll definitely note when I water with my rain water for the first time. That way if I notice anything in the days after, it will be a sure thing since they have been good up to that point.

Tri_Cho_Me

 

[Tri_Cho_Me]

I have been watering with the rain water since I collected and the plants seem to be loving it. I also put the rain water in my spray bottle. I don't know if it's in my head or I really noticed something, but I feel like the tap water left a residue or rust on the leaves. Since I've been using the rain water, I haven't notice that and the plants seem happier.

Winter is coming so the snow collection could get interesting. However, I only have two plants, so it's not like Im using a ton of water. At least not yet anyway.

Tri_Cho_Me