New Grower Reverse Osmosis, worth it?

[Jumbo]

Is a reverse osmosis system worth it? My water (City water) is very hard (high PPM) and PH is also very high (8+)


An R.O system would only run me $100.


Is it worth it? I'm only growing 1 plant outdoors (balcony)

 

[Anthropolis]

For just 1 plant, I would just buy gallon jugs of distilled water. At Walmart for example, a gallon of distilled is $0.89, and my 7 plants all together get about a gallon every 2 or 3 days. I've read people giving their plants several gallons a day lmao, I don't have a clue what they're doing different than me... But I put in tons of those water absorbing crystals (Soil Moist brand) in with my soil, and my autos stay small and in 3 gallon pots. Maybe if you have a gigantic monster Sativa, like 7 feet tall lol, in a 50 gallon pot, then maybe it would need enough water to justify an RO system It could be more worth it if you have other ph sensitive plants like tomatoes or something also

 

[Muddy]

IMO it's not worth it unless you also plan on using the RO water for your own consumption as well. Since your plant is outdoors anyway, why not capture and use some rain water? Or as previously suggested, some store bought distilled water. If you use the distilled, also get some cal/mag supplement as most of the minerals will have been removed and you will be more likely to run into cal/mag deficiencies.

 

[Jumbo]

IMO it's not worth it unless you also plan on using the RO water for your own consumption as well. Since your plant is outdoors anyway, why not capture and use some rain water? Or as previously suggested, some store bought distilled water. If you use the distilled, also get some cal/mag supplement as most of the minerals will have been removed and you will be more likely to run into cal/mag deficiencies.

I live in a high density city, rainwater is also sadly very acidic sadly

I'll have to end up purchasing a R.O system; buying so much distilled water isn't viable (25L/6 gallon airpot) with 2.5 - 3 gallons per water ever 3-4 days at $2 a gallon isn't viable for me.

Is R.O water "safe" to drink compared to tap water?

 

[Muddy]

It's actually better than tap water. Not only does a good RO system filter out the minerals, they also remove chlorine and other elements that effect the taste. Many RO systems come with a storage tank that is installed under your sink and have their own faucet that is usually installed into the hole where a spray hose would be mounted. That way you can use the regular tap for dish washing, cleaning, etc. and draw from the RO tap for drinking and cooking.

 

[Jumbo]

Thank you so much muddy!

One last question; will there be a noticeable difference in yield/smell/potency if I were to invest into this R.O system? I'm going Organic nutes and my local tap water supply currently have chlormines in it which really screw with the organic nutes :/

Advice is much appreciated !!

:hug:

 

[Muddy]

You're very welcome. I've never done a side-by-side of RO vs. tap but do know that chloramine is very detrimental to the plants, especially your myco herd, so would expect to see a difference when using RO.

 

[teedeeree]

To me RO was the difference between all my seedlings dying and producing a 180g think different with only the basic 3 part GH flora range, plant magic root stim, silicon and calmag (no bloom boost!)
mine was only $50 off ebay and I only grow one plant, the tap water EC was around 600.

Also it's meant that I drink a heck load more water now! even if I wasn't ever going to grow again my RO and 5 gallon jug would definitely still be with me.