Question about when to start using nutes

This is not my first grow but it will be my 2nd bubbleponics grow.
My first bubbleponics grow I was forced to end a few days after the seed sprouted. In that time my seedling grew at a tremendous rate but it seemed to have a phosphorous deficiency I believe. Some of the stems and the bottom of the leaves were a reddish-violet color.
One other note before I ask my question is that I am using tap water with a 480-500ppm.
Should I wait a least a week after my seed sprouts from the ground before I start adding nutes or should I wait longer?

You should not use that tap water...that's WAY too high ppm to use in DWC/Hydro in general...You either need to buy a RO filter or buy RO/Distilled water...you can start using nutrients at about 100-150ppm about 1week to 1.5weeks...its usually easier to start seedlings out in a tray and manually water them under a dome in rockwool cubes then transplant them into the DWC once the roots start popping out the bottom.

yeah, your water is completely fucked. I woldn't go any farther until you get an RO unit to take all the dissolved solids out of your water.

but to answer the question, add nutrients as soon as the roots develop. I go about 300-400 for the first week and then pop up to 600-700.

Mustang1886: these guys are giving you good information. Most tap water is bad. I have to change my faucets every few years because of the crap that comes out of my tap. I don't know where you live but I have two sources besides bottled water from the store and most of the time that's a rip off and often it's not much better than what you get from the local water supply.

We have a water filtration kiosk at our food store that irradiates it, runs it through a reverse osmosis filter after filtering it three or four times and it's only 39 cents a gallon.

The local water store is only 30 cents a gallon for filtered RO'd water and it tests out at 14 or 15 ppms.

You can get a RO rig for a couple of hundred dollars but at those prices with my little grow there's no need. Find a better source of water if you want less problems with your grow. I learned the hard way you don't have to. I hope this helps.

As far as you nutes are concerned, if you're not putting you seeds into an acid bath or irrigating with alkali, they don't need anything but pH stabilized water for about a week. They have everything they need in the seed. After a week you'll want to feed them with a diluted 1/2 or 1/3 strength dose of the nutes you're going to use. (That depends on what nutes you're using). See what you nutes supplier recommends. HSA

I like how my tap water is only 90ppm straight from the tap

I got you beat, Portland Oregon tap water..fresh from the mountain streams....34 ppm average

i use water straight out the tap too. not sure wat the ppm is but i let it sit out for a day or two before i give it to my kids

Just as an FYI.. Water Bueaus are required by law to test and publish water quality information. So google your water company. You can also learn if they use chlorine or chloramine as a sterilizing agent. While chlorine will off gas overnight, chloramine is bonded to ammonia so you need to break that bond. Fortunately, molassis is an oxidizing agent that will split chloramines apart, allowing them to offgas. But I'm getting a little off topic.

Check out thefilterguys.org. They sell great gear and have all kinds of RO systems. I would call them and chat, super guys and MJ friendly

I love weed

massah said:

You should not use that tap water...that's WAY too high ppm to use in DWC/Hydro in general...You either need to buy a RO filter or buy RO/Distilled water...you can start using nutrients at about 100-150ppm about 1week to 1.5weeks...its usually easier to start seedlings out in a tray and manually water them under a dome in rockwool cubes then transplant them into the DWC once the roots start popping out the bottom.

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mate i have to disagree and say tap water is fine, yes ro water is far better, but if you aint got one tap water is fine

Well I don't have a reliable way of getting ro water atm so my only option is to use my tap water. But however I have found a temporary solution to my problem. I found out about a useful product that I already owned could be used to lower the ppm of my tap water. I'm using a Mr. Clean auto dry. I just used it to replace the water in my bubbleponics system resevoir which is approximately 5-6 gallons.

Initial tests of my tap water straight from the faucet were 500ppm
After using The Mr. Clean auto dry the ppm of my water is 18 ppm

I couldn't believe the results myself. I'm pretty sure that the filter that it uses though needs replaced. I'm guessing it's only good for between 5-10 gallons.
I believe the replacement filters for this thing are like 6 bucks at walmart so I'm not sure how much that comes out to be but I'm thinking that its not that bad of a solution.

I cannot take credit for this discovery though because I found it while googling for solutions. Here is the link to the original post http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=55810
I left my unit intact and just hooked it up to my garden hose but in the link the guy explains how to dismantle the unit so you can use it indoors if you'd like

wiimb said:

mate i have to disagree and say tap water is fine, yes ro water is far better, but if you aint got one tap water is fine

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his tap water is off the charts for acceptable use in hydro though...at least everything that i've read regarding it says thats WAY too high...I could see 300ppm being ok...but once you start getting up into the 500-600ppm range before adding any nutrients doesn't that make getting nutrients from the water harder? So once you start packing on even 1/4 strength nutrients at about 400ppm, your solution is actually 900-1000ppm already...let alone start putting ph down in which raises it even higher...

Do a water quality report check on your city's water supplier. The only trace elements in my tap are actually beneficial, so there's no reason for me to not use my tap.

wiimb said:

mate i have to disagree and say tap water is fine, yes ro water is far better, but if you aint got one tap water is fine

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.... Mod fail.....

legallyflying said:

Just as an FYI.. Water Bueaus are required by law to test and publish water quality information. So google your water company. You can also learn if they use chlorine or chloramine as a sterilizing agent. While chlorine will off gas overnight, chloramine is bonded to ammonia so you need to break that bond. Fortunately, molassis is an oxidizing agent that will split chloramines apart, allowing them to offgas. But I'm getting a little off topic.

Check out thefilterguys.org. They sell great gear and have all kinds of RO systems. I would call them and chat, super guys and MJ friendly

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Legally, two things.
1) Molasses is a mild reducing agent, not an oxidant.
2) I would not recommend using it in a hydroponic grow.

But I do agree that OP's water is not going to cut it. cn

legallyflying said:

.... Mod fail.....

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Wow I just don't see it. But I have seen you rag on mods before..

My tap water is excellent, and I'd be dumb to not use it. Three words: WATER-QUALITY-REPORT

Agreed void, i have just done a res change and the water went from the tap into my res and plants back in, simple............

wiimb said:

Agreed void, i have just done a res change and the water went from the tap into my res and plants back in, simple............

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You and me are the lucky ones with actual "quality" water to report on heheheh.. I know mostly in the country in Texas the water is shit.. because it tastes like it, but in the cities it's just fine.

Yeah. And this guy is completely green and has 500 ppm coming out of the tap and a moderator is telling him it's fine. Which is just plain poor advice. There is plenty of bad advice on the forum but I would think that a moderator would not be dispelling it.

I'll give anyone shit for poor advice, mod or not and I think that anyone with more than a year or two of Hydro experience would say the same thing, water with that much dissolved solids needs treatment

legallyflying said:

Yeah. And this guy is completely green and has 500 ppm coming out of the tap and a moderator is telling him it's fine.

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Whoa when did that happen? I never read that post. You should quote it.

If you're talking about this:

wiimb said:

mate i have to disagree and say tap water is fine, yes ro water is far better, but if you aint got one tap water is fine

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I think you misunderstand.. My tap water's fine, wiimb's tap is fine.. I don't think either of us ever said a 500 ppm green water line is cool.. double checked and no.. no we didn't.