Water: The Most Essential Compound

doc111

doc111

Well-Known Member
Ludokruis said:
if i first boil my water till it steams for a few mins will it be better for my plant or not
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probably not. It depends on why you are boiling your water. If you are using rainwater or some outdoor source then boiling may be necessary. If you have hard water boiling may reduce a little bit of the hardness. Aside from those 2 things boiling will probably do you absolutely no good.:blsmoke:
 
Someguy15

Someguy15

Well-Known Member
doc111 said:
probably not. It depends on why you are boiling your water. If you are using rainwater or some outdoor source then boiling may be necessary. If you have hard water boiling may reduce a little bit of the hardness. Aside from those 2 things boiling will probably do you absolutely no good.:blsmoke:
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Not to nitpick.... but boiling the water away would likely INCREASE the hardness as the pure water vaporizing will leave solids behind. but like u said boiling is good to sterilize rainwater. Companies who need 0 ppm water rarely use distilling... R/O is cheaper/more effective for the cost.
 
doc111

doc111

Well-Known Member
Someguy15 said:
Not to nitpick.... but boiling the water away would likely INCREASE the hardness as the pure water vaporizing will leave solids behind. but like u said boiling is good to sterilize rainwater. Companies who need 0 ppm water rarely use distilling... R/O is cheaper/more effective for the cost.
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It depends on the type of hardness. Some minerals will precipitate out at higher temps. Boiling also reduces the amount of dissolved Oxygen in the water so I don't recommend doing it unless it's necessary (ie. rainwater or pond water). If you do boil your water it might be beneficial to run an airstone in it for a day or 2 after boiling.:mrgreen:
 
Ludokruis

Ludokruis

Member
ok cool cool so using tap water will be the best then ill just leave it in my grow room so it gets to room temp
 
doc111

doc111

Well-Known Member
Ludokruis said:
if i first boil my water till it steams for a few mins will it be better for my plant or not
Click to expand...
Not really. Unless you are doing it to disinfect your water because you are using water from an outdoor source, ie. rainwater, lake water. Boiling may reduce certain things like bicarbonates so unless you are attempting to remove chemicals that are known to be in the water and can be removed by boiling, there really is no benefit.:blsmoke:
 
C

CWB

Member
ok im sorry i know this may have been mentioned already but really the fact of the matter is this thing is 21 pages long and i dont have the attention span to sit here and read threw it all but anyways im just wondering if anyone can tell me how often you should water your plants ? and if the watering pattern changes at all threw the plants life ?
 
doc111

doc111

Well-Known Member
CWB said:
ok im sorry i know this may have been mentioned already but really the fact of the matter is this thing is 21 pages long and i dont have the attention span to sit here and read threw it all but anyways im just wondering if anyone can tell me how often you should water your plants ? and if the watering pattern changes at all threw the plants life ?
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You're new so I'm gonna cut you a break, but you really shouldn't come into a thread saying "This thread is too long to read." It's very offensive to the people who have taken the time to compile this work. There is no need to read the entire thread anyway. I have posts titled to help people find the info they need simply by skimming the thread. :eyesmoke:

This thread isn't a "How to" for watering plants but rather about water purity and purification methods primarily. To answer your question though, nobody can tell you how often to water. It's dependent on a lot of factors; Indoor or outdoor, size of lights, temp, humidity, size of plants, size of containers/root mass etc. My best advice is to water when the plants need it. As you gain experience you will be better able to 'read' your plants and they will tell you what they need and when they need it. Invest in a moisture meter. They are only a couple of bucks and are an essential tool for any gardener IMO. You can also wait until the top inch or 2 of soil dries out or wait until the container feels light. Best of luck and happy growing.bongsmilie
 
lovetogarden

lovetogarden

Member
Thanks doc for giving us a very comprehensive post about water and the different methods on how to understand the properties present in it. I was just thinking that probably one of the reasons why some growers have a hard time in achieving success in their garden especially in hydroponics growing is because they lack proper knowledge about essential water properties that may have an adverse effect on the plants that they are growing. Thanks again and I really learned a lot from all the info that you shared here :)
 
luv

luv

Member
Wow that was a lot of reading, but made it through my first thread here. Lots of really good info. Thanks for your hard work.

If you haven't seen "Gasland" yet, I highly recomend it especially if you get your water from a well in an area they are fracking. Some of the chemicals (glycol i think it was), will destroy the r/o membrane.

On a side note, did you know water is not a conducter of electricity. Its the crap in the water that conducts electricity.
 
doc111

doc111

Well-Known Member
lovetogarden said:
Thanks doc for giving us a very comprehensive post about water and the different methods on how to understand the properties present in it. I was just thinking that probably one of the reasons why some growers have a hard time in achieving success in their garden especially in hydroponics growing is because they lack proper knowledge about essential water properties that may have an adverse effect on the plants that they are growing. Thanks again and I really learned a lot from all the info that you shared here :)
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Thank you very much and welcome to RIU!:hug:
 
doc111

doc111

Well-Known Member
luv said:
Wow that was a lot of reading, but made it through my first thread here. Lots of really good info. Thanks for your hard work.

If you haven't seen "Gasland" yet, I highly recomend it especially if you get your water from a well in an area they are fracking. Some of the chemicals (glycol i think it was), will destroy the r/o membrane.

On a side note, did you know water is not a conducter of electricity. Its the crap in the water that conducts electricity.
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I'm honored that you read my thread first and made your very first post here. Welcome to RIU!

I've been doing a little bit of reading about fracking. Scary shit if you ask me. Fortunately for me there are no fracking operations anywhere close to where I live. And you are correct about water not being a conducter of electricity. Few people know this and this is the principle behind EC/ppm meters. A meter typically has 2 probes and sends an electrical current from one probe and measure how much current flows to the other probe. A reading of zero means that the water is extremely pure and won't conduct a current between probes.:weed:
 
H

hitman8

Member
Doc,

I have a well where we get our water from. I believe it goes through a R/O filter in the front of the house. When i measured my ph and ppm i got 7.3 for ph and 450ppm. I had bought 50 clones, all looked green and healthy when i got them. Now my leaves on the bottom are starting to get yellow. New leafs coming in look green and healthy. Almost every clone has at least 1 yellow leaf? what would you advise me to do doc. Your help would be most greatly appreciated?

thank you

also my temps are 76 during the 18 hour ontime and 69 during the 6 hour off time. My humidity is around 60% and im using 8bulb T5 just raised them from 8" to 12" today (due to panic about yellow leafs).
 
J

jeffbelize

New Member
Doc111 I have been growing for over 20 years and this has to be the best info i have ever read!...Most growers look at every thing but water...I live where the water sucks and i have invested in R/O filters,softners,iron filters and pre/filters,i spend well over $1000 a year on filters..When i first moved here 12 years ago i grew inside with rockwell,my first crop just got fried because of my water and i had to start using rain water(we get lots of that)But now i grow in a large green house and i cant save enought water for all summer so i invested in filters...My water comes out of the well at 680ppm,and over 8ph...i have never had it tested but you can bet its salt....Even in the green house i always have trouble with iron lock up because of the ph...I start every year with two kinds of lime,cotton seed,fish meal,and a little chicken compost to get the soil ready...then i water with teas i make,ending with bat and seabird G for flowering...Who would have ever thought bad water in the coast range of the northwest Oregon?..But even rain water is getting high ph...I seen the other day on TV are oceans are just one big soup of trash..What have we done?
 
doc111

doc111

Well-Known Member
hitman8 said:
Doc,

I have a well where we get our water from. I believe it goes through a R/O filter in the front of the house. When i measured my ph and ppm i got 7.3 for ph and 450ppm. I had bought 50 clones, all looked green and healthy when i got them. Now my leaves on the bottom are starting to get yellow. New leafs coming in look green and healthy. Almost every clone has at least 1 yellow leaf? what would you advise me to do doc. Your help would be most greatly appreciated?

thank you

also my temps are 76 during the 18 hour ontime and 69 during the 6 hour off time. My humidity is around 60% and im using 8bulb T5 just raised them from 8" to 12" today (due to panic about yellow leafs).
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Sorry it took me so long to respond. I've been busy trimming. As long as your new growth is healthy you should be ok. Older leaves don't usually recover. Keep an eye on it and consider doing something about your water. If you are getting 450ppm and that water is coming from an r/o filter, you probably have a bad membrane. You should have 10-20 ppm max if you have an r/o filter. Either that or the faucet you are using isn't on the reverse osmosis filter. Best of luck and happy growing.:weed:
 
doc111

doc111

Well-Known Member
jeffbelize said:
Doc111 I have been growing for over 20 years and this has to be the best info i have ever read!...Most growers look at every thing but water...I live where the water sucks and i have invested in R/O filters,softners,iron filters and pre/filters,i spend well over $1000 a year on filters..When i first moved here 12 years ago i grew inside with rockwell,my first crop just got fried because of my water and i had to start using rain water(we get lots of that)But now i grow in a large green house and i cant save enought water for all summer so i invested in filters...My water comes out of the well at 680ppm,and over 8ph...i have never had it tested but you can bet its salt....Even in the green house i always have trouble with iron lock up because of the ph...I start every year with two kinds of lime,cotton seed,fish meal,and a little chicken compost to get the soil ready...then i water with teas i make,ending with bat and seabird G for flowering...Who would have ever thought bad water in the coast range of the northwest Oregon?..But even rain water is getting high ph...I seen the other day on TV are oceans are just one big soup of trash..What have we done?
Click to expand...
Thank you very much! Sounds like you and I had very similar situations. My tapwater is municipal but it is over 600 ppm for a good part of the year! I had some clones I'd worked with for a while and I almost lost 10 of them after I moved into my current house, just because the water was so crappy! Welcome to RIU and happy growing my friend.:weed:
 
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