So what is the acceptable ppm range we are shooting for?
Distilled Water vs Tap Water
- Thread starter RickyRicardo
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are you guys just checking the ph and ppm of water going in? Or are you checking run off for soil grows to?
I don't think there is really a definitive answer to that question. I can tell you that over 200ppm is not beneficial. PPM is telling you how much salts/minerals are in the water. Water that has a high ppm has a lot of Calcium and Magnesium in the water. High Levels of CA/MG in improper ratios can cause lock outs and deficiencies. If you have lower PPM you can control you CA/MG input to your desired levels through nutrients and supplements. You also have to take into account the ppm of your water when feeding your plants and the amounts you feed them. If you want to feed your plants 800 ppm of ferts and your water is 300 ppm base, you are only able to feed 500ppm worth of ferts for a total of 800ppm. I think it's comparable to putting 500 liters of good gas into your motor and 300liters of unknown crap.
That is sort of my understanding of it all. I'm in the process of learning it all as well. So anyone pls feel free to correct me or add anything I missed.
Thats one of the benefits of using RO water, the heavy metals (lead,mercury,) have gone, and they are quite toxic (both to people and plants !!), the membrane also removes Chlorine and Flourine which are also very plant unfriendly.
Whether the use of RO is cost justified is debatable, maybe diminishing returns apply here ?? but I reckon the cost is justified because we are removing a variable, giving more precise control on the nute concentrations that are needed for optimum results. As with so much of the refinements we get involved in through healthy debate and discussion on this excellent forum, there is never an end to the quest for a perfect, reliable grow....thats half the fun of it
I believe that autos are far more demanding of precision in their care than photos, so I guess a little more TLC cant hurt.
Whether the use of RO is cost justified is debatable, maybe diminishing returns apply here ?? but I reckon the cost is justified because we are removing a variable, giving more precise control on the nute concentrations that are needed for optimum results. As with so much of the refinements we get involved in through healthy debate and discussion on this excellent forum, there is never an end to the quest for a perfect, reliable grow....thats half the fun of it
I believe that autos are far more demanding of precision in their care than photos, so I guess a little more TLC cant hurt.
I would agree with that. My ppm is around 330, I feel I would benefit from RO water, but if I was sitting < 200 ppm I would probably save my money.
I'm in Canada and it looks like I'm looking at 250+ for a decent RO system. My plants still grow so I'm going to cheap out for now. The price of black market weed is getting pretty cheap in Canada, 100 per ounce. If it gets much lower it's not even going to be worth it to grow at all.
Well I guess I am lucky because my PPM meter just arrived and I tested my water straight from the tap and it registered at 87. I am going to assume that this means I should be able to use tap water instead of distilled in my next and future grows.
The most popular unit is the Aquatic Life RO Buddie. Get the 3 stage unit as you won't need the deionization (4th stage). At only $50, it won't take long to pay for itself.
It takes my water from 200 PPM down to 0-5 PPM.
The biggest benefit for me is actually my humidifiers. Now that I am running 2 tents, I'm going through about 20 gallons of water a week. So, this is a huge savings over buying distilled water.
You can find it by going to Amazon and searching for "ro buddie"
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Unless your tap water is unusually high in dissolved solids you should be ok. A water test would help out a lot. Also adding humic acid to the water and bubbling will complex the chloramine and heavy metals in the tap water. This is what Elaine Ingham does who is the compost tea guru. 1 tspn of pure humic acid will treat like a hundred gallons. My teas are full of the same amount of life when using tap vs distilled when humic is added and allowed to bubble for 24 hours. At $1 a gallon it can add up but in the end it is up to you. Btw my tap water is about 100-110 ppm. You could also mix tap and distilled until you have less then 100 ppm. The dissolved solids in tap water are usually calcium, magnesium and iron which our plants need anyway along with small amounts of chlorine too.
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I recently bought a distiller and am very happy with it.
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