Gc, I read somewhere that ditch water is the best thing to water plants with, and r.o water is one of the worst. The 2 sources of water that are available to me are well water that hasn't gone through a water softener (hard water, contains lots of iron) or water from an R.O system. Kush
I think the argument that some folks make against RO water is the cost of a decent unit, 200-300 dollars. For a small timer that could be cost prohibitive. I pay 29 cents per gallon for RO water as I prefer it for tea!
R/O is wastefull! Bring your well water down with ph down. Try citric acid first. Leave a bucket of water out for a day then test your Ph and adjust it with ph down. Then let it set for another day to see if the ph comes back up. Which it genaraly will if your kh or gh is high. In my experience with well water citric acid will not keep it down if the kh is real high so I use phosphoric acid. I know its not organic but it works better than citric for me. It brings the ph where I want it with one treatment. If you want to learn about water I would research aquarium water control. Of course, one must take info from that hobby with a grain of salt just as one should with hobby of cultivation. You'll hear a lot of talk about RO systems as a must for aquariums- that's total bullshit! You will find a lot of solid info though on how water behaves in aquarium forms. Look into KH and GH, that is the true determing factor in one's PH. P.S. If anyone knows of something organic but that works as well as phosphoric acid, I'm all ears.
Short answer from a long article read years ago is, Ions, or rather the lack of ions in both RO and distilled. Makes them sorta 'dead'. Wet
Am I wrong is saying that ions are produced in water simply through agitation (ie - splashing and pouring)? ...or do they end up getting created in the air because of that?
I know that agitation will add co2 witch will slightly bring ph down because co2 is acidic. I have considered co2 injection to balance the ph in my aquaponic setup. Once again aquarium info.
Since I went completely organic I gave away my pH pen along with the big box of bottled nutrients. I use well water with no filtration, havent checked my pH once since and havent looked back. I've never, ever seen one ill effect and dont plan on ever checking the pH of my water again. jerry. ps - the last thing I'm putting into my organic garden is "pH Down".
ide really like to read this article if you can find it once you pour the water into your soil, doesnt it become "alive" again with all the ions in your medium? wouldnt water straight from the tap be worse (city water)? i guess ill need an exact scientific explanation because this ones flying over my head. -OSUB
Here in Colorado the water is super hard my old well sat just below 9ph and the kh was off the chart. Although most strains would do fine a few were more sensitive such as S.D. I also agree that ammendments and the microbs will help controll the Ph without having to adjust the water. That said its definitaly a balance! Most of the time healthy nature will overcome but there is a lot of science out there that says microbs prefer a certan range of ph. I have had the same mentality as you on ph since I started growing about 10 years ago. It wasnt until I move to the before mentioned well a couple years ago. The worst well I have ever been on. There I learned even though most of my stuff would do ok, really buckling down on controling my ph would give better results than ever before. Even now that I am on city tap my aquaponics stay at a steady 8.5 witch makes my mothers climb in ph over time. So now I am regretfully useing ph down again BUT my results have been noticeably better when the ph is kept about 7. Not knocking just giving my experience
@Jerry: I haven't checked my ph in months! Even though my well water is hard, it shouldn't make a difference? I'll check the ph just to see what it's at but as long as it's not like acid I'm okay. Kush
Here's the deal with “ditch water†– where's the head source coming from? The challenge with “ditch water†is all of the effluent that might be in it; all manner of ‘cides', fertilizers, petroleum products, etc. Unless you know where the source of the water in the ditch comes from it could be polluted from contaminants. Just because there is plant life growing alongside the ditch doesn't mean the water is clean or free from nasties. The big challenge I've always read about RO water in the garden is the total lack of mineralization as the RO process removes 99.99% of everything from it. Normally this isn't a problem because we add all the minerals we want the plant to have back into our soil mix. Calcium is usually the most lacking mineral form. Me, I've always used distilled water as the standard but it too is lacking most minerals and the medium mix has to account for that in some way. Don't forget, water can be either acid, alkaline, or neutral. Distlled and RO will get you pretty close to neutral, alkaline water is usually the norm. Acid water is usually going to come from rain water or other collecting method and one that has been left to stand open thus collecting dissolved CO2 from the air. Extremely hard water is usally the result of calcium carbonate which has an extremely high buffering capability and is very resistant to pH change. Use the ditch water with care and prudence and if you can assure yourself of its lack of 'cides' et al, free is better'n not I reckon. Personally, at $1 a gal distilled is a safe bet for a small grow IMO (~20 gallons for a complete grow cycle perhaps)
Guys, dont get me wrong - I understand that pH is VERY important, even to us organics guys. Maybe I'm lucky with my own artesian well - maybe I'm very lucky. I DO think that adding hydro up or down isnt a good thing. Perhaps an organic alternative would be best to those that do have very high or very low pH coming out of whatever source they are using? I've never used RO or distilled water so I cant comment on that. Paying a dollar a gallon simply wouldnt work very well for me - I only water twice? a week, but generally at 20 gallons at a time. jerry,
So if I just use my water from my well, it has free calcium carbonate? As long as the ph isn't crazy I imagine it will be good to go. I never planned on using 'ditch water'. I just read something that LD said on the matter and that was the case. Kush
[quote name='"Air O"'] Here in Colorado the water is super hard my old well sat just below 9ph and the kh was off the chart. Although most strains would do fine a few were more sensitive such as S.D. I also agree that ammendments and the microbs will help controll the Ph without having to adjust the water. That said its definitaly a balance! Most of the time healthy nature will overcome but there is a lot of science out there that says microbs prefer a certan range of ph. I have had the same mentality as you on ph since I started growing about 10 years ago. It wasnt until I move to the before mentioned well a couple years ago. The worst well I have ever been on. There I learned even though most of my stuff would do ok, really buckling down on controling my ph would give better results than ever before. Even now that I am on city tap my aquaponics stay at a steady 8.5 witch makes my mothers climb in ph over time. So now I am regretfully useing ph down again BUT my results have been noticeably better when the ph is kept about 7. Not knocking just giving my experience[/quote] Have u tried driftwood/peat filtration? Ion exchange softners? Clean rainwater or snow? 6.7 was my sweet spot. Amazon rainforest.
Let your water set for 2 days if the ph dose not rise above 8.0/8.5 you should do fine in a soil container grow. Cannabis has a fast turnover time just keep an eye on your mothers ph as it will change over time. If your not having noticeable problems its probably wiser to dial in some more important things such as lighting and ventilatios. As always, just my 2 cents. GL.
I have tried the peet, I currently run peet and coco in my gravel filter. It stains the water with tanins but doesn't really do much for the ph. Water is just too darn hard here in colorado. That's why I was thinking of using a trick from the planted aquarium book- injecting CO2 into the water. You can hook a CO2 cylinder and solenoid up to a PH controller that will dump CO2 into the water until the carbon lowers the acidity of the water to the desired set point. It's a bit pricey, about the same price as adding CO2 to the atmosphere in your room only bonus is the CO2 tanks lasts MUCH longer. Not much help for container garden guys though.