Hello all I have a little dilemma on my hands: I have run out of bottled water (yes, I know it's ridiculous!) but my plants are pitifully dry and saggy as it is hot (84F) in the flower box. My only alternative is to give them a little drink of tap water to get them thru the night. The problem is the tap water has a PPM of 1000. This is mainly sodium as the tap water is reverse osmosis treated water from the sea. If I give my girls a drink with this much sodium will it cause problems down the line or might I get away with it just once? I'd love to hear your opinions please. Thanks a lot fellow stoners.
Filter your tap water. And MJ should never get "a little drink." If it's ready to be watered it needs so thoroughly, otherwise it doesn't need water at all.
Wow that sucks you gotta use bottled water. I feel for you man. This may seem really stupid but you could "distill" a small amount in a dehumidifier and collect the liquid in the tub afterward. A decent dehumidifier can pull almost half a gallon a day. This might work
Thanks for the replies dudes. really appreciated. "MJ should never get "a little drink." If it's ready to be watered it needs so thoroughly, otherwise it doesn't need water at all. " You're of course right... but since I'm not in love with the idea of giving them salty tap water in the first place, I thought it pertinent to only give them a little. Enough to stop them drooping. And thanks for the great suggestion Billzilla! It doesn't help me in my immediate predicament, but I am soon to install an AC to combat the summer heat, and the idea of being able to water my plants with the water it produces makes my toes tingle! The cost of this whole venture keeps mounting up mercilessly. I mean... half the people in England don't drink bloody bottled water (let alone), but I have to give it to my plants? Preposterous! Thanks again both for the helpful suggestions. Anyone else have an opinion on the matter please?
My feeds are 1700ppm. I'm assuming that is quite a lot of salt build up, so my next feed will always be a micro biotic tea... Give it a good drink, then flush with some Clear X or some badass tea if you can get ahold of some before you give it a nutrient feed. good luck.
in the future... when someone gives you an answer you shouldn't keep asking till you get the answer you want, you need to respect the answer given that being said..... make your own distilled water with the shitty sea water on hand... this will be time consuming... but what does it really matter... you said you wanted an answer, so here ya go A simple kitchen stove distiller can be made by taking a very large pot with a lid with your water in it (about 1/3 to 1/2 full), floating an empty glass bowl in the water, then placing the large pot's lid UPSIDE DOWN on the top of the pot. Fill the lid with ice and then set the stove to slowly boil the water in the pot. What happens is that the water vapour travels round the floating glass bowl and condenses on the cold (ice filled) lid. As the lid (should be) is slightly rounded the condensed vapour will run down the underside of the lid and drip into the floating glass bowl. The glass bowl is the collector for your 'distilled' water. Points to note; The glass bowl should never touch the bottom of the pot or it will boil as well, and the lid should not be a perfect seal when upside down. For a purer result, discard the first 10ml in the bowl as this could contain impurities that boil below 100C i.e. first! a simple internet search....
I thought you could just fill up a bucket and let it sit for a couple days and then you can water your plants with it
Just what exactly do you mean by this? How cheeky. Also, thanks for the info on building a still. I have carried out that particular "simple internet search" myself in the past. If you had taken the time to actually read the original post I suppose you might have noticed that I was looking for a quick fix to get me through one night. Who in their right mind is going to embark on such a project just to provide water for one night? It seems you would rather try to condescend to people. Unfortunately, you failed miserably at that.
I hope it rains well for you tonight You might want to look into a collection barrel so when it rains you'll have free water at the perfect PH. I found if stored in larger amounts for longer times you can add some Chlorine. I know bad for plants. but If you retrieve it by the bucket a day or so early, the Chlorine will evaporate.
I was implying that the salt build up indicated by you PPM meter was not going to HARM your plants. That you could feed, and as long as you Clear X the salt out before feeding again. Obviously with Clear X + good water. If you didn't Clear X the salt out before giving your babies a nute bath, then they would not absorb any nutes. -
Ah ha. Well, thanks a lot for clarifying that. I was confused by your use of the term "salt buildup". Anyways, I just let 'em have a dry night in the end and they don't seem much worse off for it. Thanks for your help mate And thanks for the rain butt suggestion too Buck Buck