Opinions opinions please!

Ok So Im doing organic outdoor this year! I want to prep myself as much as possible. So that I can have the most succesfull grow that I can possibly have, After all this is my medicine that Im trying to make! I havent talked to the water company to figure out the evaluation of the citys water. So I dont know if they use chlorine or chloramine... But I'm looking into my more natural options.

What Im looking for are opinions on wether lake or river water could be positive or bad. Im going more toward lake water than river. I have a lake picked out by my house, Im not afraid to drive once a month or so and fill up 50 gals worth of water. I found a detailed fishing annalysis with water conditions in it. But it is from 2002-2003. After that they stop getting so detailed.

The way I see it is lake water being a ecosystem. Should have tons of bacteria + or -, not sure yet. Natural nutrients, DO, and a low TDS. So What do you guys think, do you think that lake water could be a + in the all organic grow???

MRGreenThum said:

So I dont know if they use chlorine or chloramine... ?

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So you mean you can AIR out your water with a bubbler for 3 days or 100 and it wont brake the Chloramine bond? And that chlorine is NOT a problem too your plants because they break it down but cannot break the Chlorine/Ammonia bond of Chloramine?

Good question to know about your tap water and how to fix it.

if the lake isn't polluted.......heck yes.....

ok you can just use normal tap water chlorinated or not because in an outdoor grow salt buildup and nute lockout is near impossible...if your worried about the "organic" aspect of using tap water i would just go get a couple gallons of destilled and then refill those after 2 or so days the chlorine evaporates out of your tap water

VX420 said:

So you mean you can AIR out your water with a bubbler for 3 days or 100 and it wont brake the Chloramine bond? And that chlorine is NOT a problem too your plants because they break it down but cannot break the Chlorine/Ammonia bond of Chloramine?

Good question to know about your tap water and how to fix it.

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Well as far as I have heard. You cannot bubble the chloramine out of water. Only the actual chlorine, can be bubbled out.

scroglodyte said:

if the lake isn't polluted.......heck yes.....

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Thanks man Im trying to figure it out. The water should be awesome. They just drained the lake this year to get rid of some of the underwater weed population. They havent done that since 1993-94. I think im going to give it a try but, Im totally open to more responces as I have a while untill outdoor season!

see: Aquaponics

i will say this also....when i was little i had a fighting fish...i thought it would be cool to feed it a minnow from the lake, after the minnow was in there for 2 or 3 days the fighting fish died and quickly became encapsulated in a white fungus....point is i had no idea what was in the water and that it would be bad for the fish, your tap water may not be the number one best choice but it sure as hell has no chance of killing your plants like the lake water can(not that i think it would)

kermit2692 said:

ok you can just use normal tap water chlorinated or not because in an outdoor grow salt buildup and nute lockout is near impossible...if your worried about the "organic" aspect of using tap water i would just go get a couple gallons of destilled and then refill those after 2 or so days the chlorine evaporates out of your tap water

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Its not the salt buildup. Its the chlorine content, I dont want to use dead water in my organics or else I would just by a ro filter.

kermit2692 said:

i will say this also....when i was little i had a fighting fish...i thought it would be cool to feed it a minnow from the lake, after the minnow was in there for 2 or 3 days the fighting fish died and quickly became encapsulated in a white fungus....point is i had no idea what was in the water and that it would be bad for the fish, your tap water may not be the number one best choice but it sure as hell has no chance of killing your plants like the lake water can(not that i think it would)

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Im not worried about the bacteria, It should be mostly aerobic bacteria from the lake anyways.

VX420 said:

Having owned lake front property before, I will make it easy for you. When you get your water, will you drink a glass of it each time you fill the jugs for your plants? If you will I would use it, if you won’t, the why would you use it for your plants.

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Yes I would. So I wouldnt mind giving it to my plants Im just trying to get opinions. Hell I fish and swim in the lake, I know if I can do all that then drinking it aint gonna hurt me!

Lets just put it out their now. Im also a medical patient where I live. So I could give a damn if somebody sees me filling up 50 milk jugs, of lake water.

scroglodyte said:

see: Aquaponics

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Thanks buddy Ill check it out!

Yea man, Im not to worried about the boat traffic the lake is like 40 something miles long! So it is huge, I think Im going to give it a shot. Well atleast with one of my 5 that im doing this summer.

Keep the opinions coming guys!

The last thing to keep in mind is that lakes basically come from four places. 1) Feeder lakes that flow into your lake... Rain run off from multiple areas, 3) rain water falling in the lake or 4) spring water keeping the lake full.

For me.

Spring feed= Best
Rain filled = 2
Feeder lake=3
Lager area rain run off=4

Again just me, its only 70 cent a gal at Wal-Mart for distilled water and 25 cents a gal for RO water at the pet store. So Am I saving OR introducing Lake Organics that might be a problem?

VX420 said:

The last thing to keep in mind is that lakes basically come from four places. 1) Feeder lakes that flow into your lake... Rain run off from multiple areas, 3) rain water falling in the lake or 4) spring water keeping the lake full.

For me.

Spring feed= Best
Rain filled = 2
Feeder lake=3
Lager area rain run off=4

Again just me, its only 70 cent a gal at Wal-Mart for distilled water and 25 cents a gal for RO water at the pet store. So Am I saving OR introducing Lake Organics that might be a problem?

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Well as far as I can think lake organics couldnt be a problem. But their is things to consider. As for the lake goes on your rating. It is a feeder lake but also a spring lake. The lake that feeds it is strictly spring fed. So I dont quite know what I would consider it! All I know is im going to be trying it this summer and hopefully I will have some good results to show and a very happy microbial life in my soil!

Thanks for all the comments so far guys. I would love for some more people to chime into this topic and keep it going/ get a good debate on wether it is a + or a - to use lake/river water. Happy smokin and growin guys!

I'd agree with the comments earlier - if you'd drink it then give it to your plants. Other things to consider are primarily to do with rain run-off, regarding the type of farming and use of feeds/fertilisers in the lake/river system. Basic rule for me is if I see any foaming in flowing water, algal buildup and reports of low fish stocks I stay well clear. On the first note though, I'd use river rather than lake as it shouldn't have had time to build up levels of nasty stuff.

Why not drive down to the spring lake and fill up from there..?

hengus said:

I'd agree with the comments earlier - if you'd drink it then give it to your plants. Other things to consider are primarily to do with rain run-off, regarding the type of farming and use of feeds/fertilisers in the lake/river system. Basic rule for me is if I see any foaming in flowing water, algal buildup and reports of low fish stocks I stay well clear. On the first note though, I'd use river rather than lake as it shouldn't have had time to build up levels of nasty stuff.

Why not drive down to the spring lake and fill up from there..?

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Hey man thanks for stopping by. With this lake it is one of the most heavily fished in washington and renound for its bass fishing! I think their is like 19 or 20 different species of fish that live in the lake. Along with crawdads, and turtles. No algea that I can see, and it doesnt foam. Lols BUt I mean It is huge, Awesome fuckin lake! So much nice surroundings, and animals. I could never get tired of this lake. I trust it alot more than the river. As their is a huge dam on the river by my, I mean HUGE!!! I wouldnt trust that water if it was one of the last sources to drink...

i think he was recomending to stay away from boat traffic due to the petrolium products boat motors will leave behind in the water.

as far as using the lake water goes, are there lifing plants in and around the lake? If the water has not killed them yet i doubt it would kill your weed plants, maybe try a indoor experiment before growing season.

as far as organic perspectives go the lake is going to be less organic than distilled water as like posted above petrolium from boats and who the hell knows what else people dump in that lake. i would just make some tea with distilled water and worm castings and maybe some organic shit if you can find a organic dairy farm anywhere close by.

are boats allowed on the lake? If there are there will be at the very least petrochemicals floating around. Not to mention all the other stuff people throw into a lake.

Hey thanks guys for stopping by so far the poll is at 50/50, I would love to get some more opinions on if lake water would be benificial to water with.

matthebrute said:

i think he was recomending to stay away from boat traffic due to the petrolium products boat motors will leave behind in the water.

as far as using the lake water goes, are there lifing plants in and around the lake? If the water has not killed them yet i doubt it would kill your weed plants, maybe try a indoor experiment before growing season.

as far as organic perspectives go the lake is going to be less organic than distilled water as like posted above petrolium from boats and who the hell knows what else people dump in that lake. i would just make some tea with distilled water and worm castings and maybe some organic shit if you can find a organic dairy farm anywhere close by.

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PixiDustr said:

are boats allowed on the lake? If there are there will be at the very least petrochemicals floating around. Not to mention all the other stuff people throw into a lake.

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Hey hows it going. Yes they do allow boats on the actual lake. Their is huge sections that are kinda cut off and seperated though that boats can not get into. I dont mean not accesible, but they are kinda like sub sections of the lake seperated by good amounts of land. I would call that quite the filter! Yes their are lots of different plants that grow naturally around the lake. I would test on my indoor but I will be shutting down soon, and the lake is really low, and frozen atm. Also a negative about the dairy farm. I live pretty far into the boonies. Only things like that is pastures and acreage.