H Two Oh

[mibrains]

so ok...

 

i was just thinking...

 

can i use water directly from Lake Huron?

 

i live not more than a few hundred yards from one of our states most abundant and precious resources and i can't help but wonder if it would be a happy invitation for my girls... (as particular as they are that is) would they like direct, unfiltered Lake Huron water?

 

so that begs the question

 

what water do you use?

 

city?

 

tap?

 

filtered?

 

rain?

 

reverse osmosis?

 

what amenities do u add and why?

 

what is the most absolute best water source for cannabis and why?

 

lets talk about water strength and purity please...

 

i am so very tempted to go grab some Great Lake Water because i feel like the plants would "Love" the dissolved mineral content that a gazzilion gallons of water provides...

 

i'm not talking about the simplicity of gathering the source.. i am just asking what my fellow cannabis connoisseurs would say is the absolute "best" H2O on the planet for our gardens to use.

[Chauncy Gardner]

Plain old softened well water works great. I have seen it used continuously in organic super soil for 3 years with no bad effects. Plants thrive on it and it is cheap.

[Kingdiamond]

7.0 ph water straight from my tap from the Detroit water department.

 

I use Ph down to bring it down to 6.5-6.3 i was using a reverse osmosis filter system ran into a ton of deficiency issues went back to tap no issues since FYI i have a htg reverse osmosis filtration system for sale lol

[phaquetoo]

Yes i know several people that use motor city water with no ill effects, I dont use my well water before or after softner at my house.

i have had nothing but problems, I just grabbed

like 40 gallons of my dads well water un softened im hoping for good results,

 

I was using distilled water it adds up$$ I will most likely get me a lil reverse osmosis machine, im just trying to get thru this crop and than im up grading my room and gonna kill all the bugs and start over again!,

 

 

Peace

Jim

[shishka]

R.O. water here. Well water comes in at 1.0 E.C.(500/700 ppm) I am tempted to try and use my well water on my soil plants. On coco, I use the R.O. with cal/mag added back.

[phaquetoo]

R.O. water here. Well water comes in at 1.0 E.C.(500/700 ppm) I am tempted to try and use my well water on my soil plants. On coco, I use the R.O. with cal/mag added back.

 

what blows is my well water comes out at 7ph and 143 ppms, i dont know whats wrong with it, ive had nothing but problems using my own water, I put it in 3o gal resivours and the ph stables out for me after about a week and after a bout a week of using it my plants show stress!

wtf?

 

Peace

Jim

[cristinew]

City water after nuts added ph to 6.5 no problems in soil,..

[Nemosity]

Lake water may work well, but keep in mind any outside water source has a good chance of bringing in bugs and other unwanted things into your grow. The shoreline will freeze over at some point in the near future; and changing water sources during your grow could cause even more problems.

[phaquetoo]

Lake water may work well, but keep in mind any outside water source has a good chance of bringing in bugs and other unwanted things into your grow. The shoreline will freeze over at some point in the near future; and changing water sources during your grow could cause even more problems.

 

Yep good point, mj plants like consistency!

 

Peace

Jim

[t-pain]

i dont see any problem with lake water, plus you'll get all of those nice microbes

think of all that fish poo

 

rain water is good too.

 

wonder if anyone ever did a study of clones rain water vs tap vs RO water ?

[mibrains]

i started out using city water 3 years ago and then i figured when i moved to this home i would upgrade and use R/O water....

 

so i purchased a filter and have used reverse osmosis water for the last 2 years or so...

 

well about 2-3 months back i read about having ph and lockout issues with R/O water in hydro and even tho i am in BX i decided to bubble my city water and try it again...

 

i have been using aerated municipality water for about 60 days... not sure but i think the girls like it...

 

my thoughts on the Lake Huron water... (problems gathering and or transporting it aside) was it is naturally sand filtered and loaded with beneficial micro-nutrients i would think...

 

not sure if it is good or bad to use lake water.... so i kinda posted this thread to disseminate what the community is using, and what you all think about using the free sand filtered water of our great lakes.

 

i appreciate all of the responses and am happy to see what everyone else is using...

[Highlander]

I wouldn't mess with the lake water - not because it is lake water but because it is unlikely that you'll have an unfailing system of getting this lake water to your plants. December 26th will roll along, and you'll be all fat and happy from Christmas dinner and won't feel like trudging through snow and carrying water back with you. And it won't get easier the next four months after that. So chances are at some point you'll "make do" with the water that comes out of your tap. At that point, you'll deal with all of the adjustments you need to make to get it right for your plants.

 

The best water to use is the water you know how to use. You can have RO water, well water with high Ca and/or high Mg, city water with some Ca and Mg and chlorine and/or chlormane (that dissipate and end up lowering pH over hours to days)....."mineral water" from wal-mart.......whatever........ Any of this water is good if you understand what, if any, adjustments need to be made to make it work with the grow system you have.

 

I think it is best for most people to choose a water source and dial it in. That's my 2 cents.

[Vertigo__]

I like to have a constant product i.e RO water.cal mag and ph to 6.3

[mibrains]

i agree

 

defiantly to difficult to obtain the Lake water right now... perhaps if i had a lake front home i would just run a line out...

 

i like using my city water...over the R/O water because of filling and storage alone.. mine makes a gallon a hr or so... and holds 2.5 in reserve... so i would fill 2 gallon milk jugs every other hr or so...PITA

 

i switched back to municipal water not because of that tho... because if they like it better i would do whatever.... i did it because i think it's more stable for ph... now i am filling my 55gallon drum and running 6 eight inch air-stones to dissipate the chlorine and to super aerate the water and saturate it with as many air molecules as it can hold. it lasts for 2 watering cycles or about a week....

no clue if it helps...

 

i also switched to KISS soil last month and dropped the GH flora nova... instead of going with DWC.. i decided to stick with dirt because i don't have the ability to save my garden if the power fails...so i figure i need to have a backup generator in place before i attempt hydro...

we loose power here several times a year..

 

do any of u that are using R/O find you loose the ph buffer after a couple days? does your R/O water remain stable and do you find it easier or better to use?

[Highlander]

I used to run RO water in my DWC and fought with pH almost daily. Instead of using the little reserve, I just let the water empty into a 55-gallon barrel. You can buy a small float valve for about $10-$15 at a hydro store if you needed one. But I went through so much water I never needed the shutoff.

 

I also got tired of the hassle. Then I started using city water (about 150ppm), and that helped alot to keep the pH in check. Typically, I can dump/refill my reservoir and the pH will be stable for a few days but I think the plants use up the calcium and Magnesium faster than the rest of the nutes, and the pH drops. At this point I add Calcium and Magnesium supplements and that seems to balance things out. I noticed a big difference in growth when I quit adjusting pH using "pH up" and using the cal mag instead.

 

If I lived near a lake, I'd probably run a line and use the water to save a few bucks.

 

I don't worry about losing power with my DWC setup. I had power out for a few days during the summer. I have a $100 800watt generator from Harbor Freight that start easily and runs pretty quiet. I ran my air pumps on that and drained most of the nute solution out of my buckets, leaving only a couple of inches in each bucket. With the light off, the plants don't need water, and when you're pumping that much air into 2 inches of water, it is unlikely you'll get root rot. Another $100 generator would run a small res. chiller if you needed one.

Edited November 6, 2012 by Highlander

[phaquetoo]

i started out using city water 3 years ago and then i figured when i moved to this home i would upgrade and use R/O water....

 

so i purchased a filter and have used reverse osmosis water for the last 2 years or so...

 

well about 2-3 months back i read about having ph and lockout issues with R/O water in hydro and even tho i am in BX i decided to bubble my city water and try it again...

 

i have been using aerated municipality water for about 60 days... not sure but i think the girls like it...

 

my thoughts on the Lake Huron water... (problems gathering and or transporting it aside) was it is naturally sand filtered and loaded with beneficial micro-nutrients i would think...

 

not sure if it is good or bad to use lake water.... so i kinda posted this thread to disseminate what the community is using, and what you all think about using the free sand filtered water of our great lakes.

 

i appreciate all of the responses and am happy to see what everyone else is using...

 

well my pa, r.i.p, he always had a 55 gal drum to catch rain water and thats all he used on his garden, and we had the best garden around, i was his back and legs, he gardened up till 96yrs old, well he supervised me gardening, I wish he would have showed me how to grow cannabiss lol he was prob around when it was against the law to not grow lol! he was born in 1898, so he died in 1994 he almost seen 3 century's!

 

i dont know maybe rain water isnt as good as it used to be, but i been thinkin of trying it, well time to vote, any one using the great lakes water keep us upto date, id love to hear more!

 

Peace

Jim