Advice from pro please.
- Thread starter Bozy
- Start date
Bernie420
Well-Known Member
no the water softener water is what I think is going to cause you problems. Do what you want to do. I absolutely dont know wtf i'm talking about no facts, no science, but I know that I would not run water softener water through an ro system to feed to my plants for the only reason that it doesnt sound like the thing that I would want to do.
Fractured but whole
Well-Known Member
I posted a link earlier, did you read it???????????????/
http://blog.watertech.com/is-reverse-osmosis-needed-if-have-a-water-softener/
Bernie420
Well-Known Member
Yes I read it do you understand that when the ro filters fail and they will that you will be feeding your plants salty water and will probably end up killing all of your microbes and stunting your plant.
Fractured but whole
Well-Known Member
I understand that for salt to pass thru the membrane would be nearly impossible, Also it has been shown that nutrients with high P is what kills micro herds, not salts
R.o. filter has a minimum life span of 1 year and by running the softwater through it will last longer than if was running hardwater... so just change the filters and good to go.. obviously u dont agree. Also i always test with tds pen so if the water started to get worse i would notice..imo its better to know what is in the water from the start and go from there.
HotWaterKarl
Well-Known Member
If the water softener uses salt, it can cause an issue even with RO systems. You can still have up to 5% or more after filtration, in my case my RO only removed 95% of the salt but my water was 1.0+ EC which left me with 25-50PPM in my water. Which is too much for hydroponics solution anyways. So in my case I added a post RO de-ionization filter (DI filter) which reduced PPMs to 0. The DI also helps with soluble forms of other minerals like forms of manganese and Iron which may remain in large amounts even after softening which RO cannot remove.
Using a softener and then RO will save your filters compared to just using hardwater then RO, true. Filters for my EvolutionRO1000 are expensive so I use my water softener to help them last longer, and a post-RO DI filter.
See my system here. It has a PPM meter post RO and post DI to tell when both filters need changing. The filter on the floor is the DI filter
HotWaterKarl
Well-Known Member
You gotta add CalMag back to the water if you use RO btw..
HotWaterKarl
Well-Known Member
The saline tolerance for soil is higher than hydroponics solution but still helps to know your input EC from your tap. if it is 1.0 or less you probably will not have an issue with any salt or need for a DI unit, you can just use an RO, but you need to add cal mag or risk a deficiency.
Pro-mix, many kinds, do contain ammendments, the one the op is using, the 'hp' variety does not. Btw, you are not growing in 'soil', pro mix hp is sphagnum peat moss, it is to be treated as soilless and ph between 5.8-6.3 max. With that being said, have you clipped your leaves? If not, there is one leaf that seems to have been chewed away at from the tip in. Also, i see odd discoloration on your pebbles, looks to be moldy! As for hard water, can you check an online report from your city to see what it's made up of? It may not be that bad unless it has a high carbonate value and/or contains too much sodium, iron or led.
HotWaterKarl
Well-Known Member
I'm on a well too and my input PPM was 500 PPM ~ 1.0EC mostly Calcium Carbonate and Magnesium and Lime, Sulfer, and Manganese. Best to filter it and add CalMag if it is anywhere near as hard as mine. And use a softner to save your filters.
Theres no mold!! As for leaves my big fingers clipped a few leaves when I tried to fim.. still fairly new at this lol..
ok..then that explains the leaf
As for the mold i only mentioned it because of the dark spots on the pebbles..i never used them, so im not sure what it was
polishpollack
Well-Known Member
How often do you give 550 ppm?