First of all, I've heard that using tap water is bad because it contains chlorine. How bad is it to water with this? Second, what is a good pH range for a soil grow?
let tap water sit out for 24-48 hrs to let the chlorine evaporate for the most part. the proper pH range for soil is 6.5-7.2 i believe. that's the range i keep my mother plants @ and they seem to love it
Everyone keeps saying the chlorine in tap water will kill your plants. Where's the proof. We've all been watering our lawns and gardens with chlorinated water for many years with no problems. Marijuana being a weed is very adaptive to a not so perfect environment. If you can afford to buy a filter or filtered water that's fine but I want proof from a scientific type study that says tap water kills MJ plants. The only thing I've found is that it's harder to stabalize pH for a couple of days. Chloramine may be a whole different story and may kill plants but they don't use that here so I'll keep using tap water until I get some good evidence not to.
6.2 is too low for soil. I think hydro has a bit more room for fluctuation, from about 5.2 to like 6.3 or something
Ive been using tap water my while grow, and not letting it sit out. Other than a fee small brown spots on the leaves, they are as healthy as can be. I only have test papers, but my PH has stayed right around six from what I can tell. I'm sure some nice pure RO water would be better, but I'm ballin on a budget, and doin fine.
When I think of the definition of a weed (an undesirable or unwanted plant that usually crowds out cultivated plants), cannabis is the last thing I think of. In fact, I think we are can all agree with that. Now to get to brass taxes, tap water, whether it be municipal city water, well water, or drawn from an aquifer or reservoir varies distinctively from place to place. A year ago, I lived in an area of the Central Valley of CA where agriculture thrived and we had great tap water that was suitable for an indoor grow; however, my results were still better by far when I used only pure RO water throughout an entire grow. Now I live by the coast and my tap water is awful. I later found out by checking the city's website that significant levels of salt intrude into our water supply. Some cities even add flourine to their water (I am not sure what effect this would have on our plants but I don't want to take any more chances!) Check out the water quality of your city on their webpage and make your decision based on what you find. For those of you who do decide to stick with tap, GH makes a Floramicro hardwater that is designed to block out some the alkaline crap in your water which found to be somewhat of an improvement when using tap water. For best results I would always use clean RO water though. It just works better. Good luck, Dr. T
^the doctor pretty much hit it on the head, but I will simplify. I agree, Cannabis is NOT a weed. Just some negative spin put on the plant by the government. Tap water can be great, and it can also mean death. You need to know what your tap water conditions are in order to determine if it is suitable for growing. Tap water contents and ph ranges will fluctuate depending on where you live. I personally have very hard, high ph tap water in my area. So to bring the ph down as well as the tds/ec, I mix it with RO water. generally people will say to let tap sit out overnight to evaporate the chlorine. I have yet to notice ill effects from skipping this step, but like I said before, some areas may have more chlorine than others.
1.) Chlorine described in a professional horticultural application specific to marijuana. Chlorine: Chloride is involved in the evolution of oxygen in the photosynthesis process and is essential for cell division in roots and leaves. Chlorine raises the cell osmotic pressure and affects stomata regulation and increases the hydration of plant tissue. A solution concentration of less than 140 PPM is usually safe for marijuana, but some varieties may show sensitivity when foliage turns pale green and wilts. Excessive chlorine causes leaf tips and margins to burn and leaves to turn a bronze color. Some Chloride sensitive plants may experience tip or marginal leaf burn at concentrations above 20 ppm. Osmosis and Hard Water, Excerpted from Chapter Four, Indoor Marijuana Horticulture, The Indoor Bible "A small amount of chlorine, below 140 PPM, does not affect marijuana growth, but higher levels cause foliage chlorosis and stunt growth. Do not use salt-softened water. Salty, brackish and salt-softened water is detrimental to cannabis. Chlorine also tends to acidify soil after repeated applications. The best way to get chlorine out of water is to let it sit one or two days in an open container. The chlorine will evaporate (volatize) as a gas when it comes in contact with air. If chlorine noticeably alters soil pH, adjust it with a commercial "pH UP" product or hydrated lime." 2.) My opinion on tap water (and chlorine.) My water district's average ppm value for Chloride and Chlorine residual is 106ppm. Now that might seem safe... but a 100 average could also mean 50ppm one day and 150ppm another. But that's just the tip of the ice-burg with my water. The average pH of my tap water is 8.1! The average TDS (overall ppms) is 718ppm!! Some of what makes this water so hard is in fact beneficial to growing... but a LOT of it is not... So I wont ever use it. I mean... when I run my DWC with RO water my ppms run at around 850 for most of the grow. Now throw on an additional 718ppm from the tap? Forget it, my plants would look like shit! One more issue to consider with Chlorine. It can kill beneficial bacteria and fungi. Some people go to great lengths to cultivate these microbes into their soils. Depending on the amount of Chlorine in your water it may not kill all of the microbes, but could come very close. The bottom line is, if you have good tap water consider yourself fortunate and use it... The rest of you are better off using RO or similarly filtered water.
Chlorine is more of a problem for organic growers who rely on a micro-herd of bacteria to nourish their plant. Remember, chlorine (among other things) is put into tap water specifically to kill bacteria. Those using mineral nutes will see little to no impact on the plant itself, unless the chlorine content is really high.
Hey guys I just wanted to come back and post some findings with regard to water quality in my area. I got the newly updated water quality report from my district and though the results were pretty much what I expected, there were some surprises in there as well. I think it's important for people to understand that even though they may have been using their tap water for years with success and is working great with their setups... that does not mean it will be the same for everyone all over the world... or even sometimes even if their in the same state! Here is a cross sample of the substance results for my tap water. There are over 300 substances listed but I'll only pick out a few... also, I'd rather not disclose the actual city these results came from, but I will say it's a large (popular) metropolitan city in the United States. Chlorine and Salt CHLORIDE: 97 ppm (parts per million) SULFATE : 248 ppm PH, Conductivity and Total Dissolved Solids: pH: 8.1 pH EC: 1048 µS/cm (Microsiemens per centimeter) TDS: 776 ppm (that's just retarded) Substances that are beneficial to plants: CALCIUM: 91 ppm IRON: 248 ppb (parts per billion) MAGNESIUM: 28 ppm NITROGEN: 7 ppm POTASSIUM: 6 ppm ZINC: 1.9 ppm Substances that are just scary to see in your water: ARSENIC: 2.1 ppb ASBESTOS: 1.7 MFL (million fibers per Liter with fiber length > 10 microns) BARIUM: .15 ppm CADMIUM: 2.1 ppm CYANIDE: 97 ppb LEAD: 3.8 ppb MERCURY: 1.1 ppb URANIUM: 5.1 ppb ---------- As you can see... there's a lot of "shit" in my water. I've tried using it but learned right away that it was literally toxic to my plants. In fact, there have actually been articles in the local newspaper linking higher rates of cancer in pets and............ yup, you guessed it... tap water. So go find out which kind you have. If you get the good stuff, consider yourself fortunate and by all means use it, Otherwise use RO water.
love this thread, so I have to necro it. Check your water! tap water is great source of water, but it often has issues that need to be corrected for best or optimal growth in plants. I was watering my plants for years with just the plain tap water here. By the end of flowering it was impossible to keep ph under control as it would rise into the low 7's. Salts and other minerals would build up in the soil and cause the ph to go higher. I now collect rain water run it through a carbon filter, ph the water, and water my plants. I still use tap water from time to time, but I definately filter it now, and check its ph. Check your local water reports, some of the stuff they report in the water is crazy. The difference was huge for me, I gained at least 30% more weight in my harvests, under the same light, grow medium, etc.
Weed leaf- RO = reverse osmosis . Reading this thread makes me glad my area has great water! 165ppm of mostly calcium carbonate ( hardness) a bit of chlorine/chloramines but I just let it sit for a day. The local results for awhile back all say 4ppm or less combined.