what is the best water to use?

[Ralphie]

I am in nassau county near NYC.. I am not sure if I should use tap water or go with bottled water.. Is there any other waters good to use? I am growing with hydroponics

 

[FallenHero]

i use water straight from the tap. some tapwater is okay, some is harder. some nutrients accomadate hard water, like ionic hard water nutrients. check the ppm of your water, if its 25-30ppm, i'd say your fine, thats what mine is.

 

[UnEmploymentDude]

The best? Distilled. Love that stuff. but got tired of aways having to buy gallons of it.

 

[phr33k]

Distilled is good. I boil water from the tap and put it in the fridge and use it. I like that way but takes a little more time.

 

[shamegame]

I buy distilled from the store in 1 gal. jugs. I get it on sale often for .69 a gallon.At that price I can do an 8 plant grow for less than 50 bucks in water start to finish.My tap water is very hard and has alot of chlorine.If you are lucky enough to have clean tap with low ppm use it.Just leave it out in a tub overnight to let the chlorine evap. before you use it.

 

[Ralphie]

has anyone tried distilling the water by it self (letting it boil, steam and cool)? I might try that.. What do you think?

 

[phr33k]

If you look a couple posts up I have done that before and it works well. Just about the same as the store bought. If you do it yourself you just save yourself a little money.

 

[Ralphie]

Oh, I didnt see.. Looks like I'm gonna go that way, $$$ on water could get pricey after a while

 

[hempie]

i use bottled

 

[wafflehouselover]

distilled = distilled water have a really low percentage of oxygen? Which isn't that good for the plant.

Everyone do this, boil tap water in the microwave for like 5 mins, you can see bubbles releasing from the water because of the heat. Then boil distill water, see if theres any bubble coming out of there. No correct? Now place a piece of sugar cube in both tap water and distill water(after its been boiled in the microwave) and see what happens.

 

[cockeye]

tap water is ok in most places

 

[Home_Grown]

distilled = distilled water have a really low percentage of oxygen? Which isn't that good for the plant.

Everyone do this, boil tap water in the microwave for like 5 mins, you can see bubbles releasing from the water because of the heat. Then boil distill water, see if theres any bubble coming out of there. No correct? Now place a piece of sugar cube in both tap water and distill water(after its been boiled in the microwave) and see what happens.

I read somewhere that distilled water is like direct c02 to the plants roots! (They love it)

 

[Ralphie]

well over here you can get a 24 pack of poland spring for 4 bucks ill start with that

 

[Delta-9]

I've been collecting rain water. It rained a lot lately and I have about 20 gallons of it bottled up.

Is this a good Idea? I thought I had read it was, maybe I am just high though.

 

[Widow Maker]

distilled = distilled water have a really low percentage of oxygen? Which isn't that good for the plant.

Everyone do this, boil tap water in the microwave for like 5 mins, you can see bubbles releasing from the water because of the heat. Then boil distill water, see if theres any bubble coming out of there. No correct? Now place a piece of sugar cube in both tap water and distill water(after its been boiled in the microwave) and see what happens.

What I was told was the reason the tap boils more is because of the impurities in the water. Isnt the chemical makeup of water h2o? lol. So is tap water h2o2. lol. No.
Ok try this. take a clean pot and boil distilled water. Now take a dirty pot and do the same. What happened?

 

[Widow Maker]

I read somewhere that distilled water is like direct c02 to the plants roots! (They love it)

Not true. It is pure. Well almost. Its ppm is like less than 5. The reason you want less ppm in your water is so you can add more nutes and know what you are feeding your plants.

 

[bd1975@earthlink.net]

I am in nassau county near NYC.. I am not sure if I should use tap water or go with bottled water.. Is there any other waters good to use? I am growing with hydroponics

DUDE YOU'VE GOT TO GET A METER...WATER IS ALL IMP. WHEN IN HYDO.I JUST LOST 31 LOVELY LADIES CAUSE THE CITY WHERE I LIVE SCREWED THE WATER UP SO BAD.....I'M REMOLDELING MY MY HOUSE SO...I HAD A GARDEN TUB I TOOK OUT ..IT'S GOT A FILTERED TOP I BUILT FOR IT, RAIN WATER COLLECTS IN THE TUB,THEN I PUMP IT OUT THUR ANOTHER FILTER I RIGGED WITH A EXTRA PUMP...AFTER THIS MY WATER IS 3PPM,6.33PH 2EC. WATER OUT OF THE FAUCET HERE IS 557PPM PH-[SO LOW METER WON'T READ IT],EC235. IF YOUR WATER IS'NT RIGHT IT WONT EVEN LIVE...IF YOU'RE GONN'A INVEST THE TIME AND $ YOU WANT IT TO THRIVE...... BD

 

[Ralphie]

yea, well im thinking of going spring water all the way through.. until the plants are sucking up a gallon a day atleast

 

[babygro]

I am in nassau county near NYC.. I am not sure if I should use tap water or go with bottled water.. Is there any other waters good to use? I am growing with hydroponics

If you're growing in Hydro, you'll have to get a EC/TDS/PPM and PH meter anyway - so take the EC and PH ranges of your tapwater if it's within acceptable ranges - use it.

If it isn't - buy a cheap 3 or 4 stage RO unit and use RO water mixed with tap water.

You can use Distilled water and RO water (they're much the same) but don't use them on their own without mixing in at least some tap water. They're too pure and can cause an osmotic inbalance between the roots and the rootzone which actually works in reverse - it can start osmotically moving water OUT of the roots rather than the other way round.

Don't use rainwater. Rain water can contain heavy metals and pathogenic bacteria and if left to stand for a while anaerobic harmful organisms. You shouldn't let ANY water you intend to use on your plants to stand for any length of time - it allows dissolved oxygen to evaporate out of the water and that's exactly what you don't want. Don't let water stand for any more than an hour before using it.

Water quality and quantity of dissolved salts it contains is key to the health of your plants - especially if you're growing hydroponically.

 

[Ralphie]

yes im growing hydro.. i already have a ph meter but it doesnt meter EC/TDS/PPM..

Im going to use Poland Spring spring water to start.. and maybe the whole way through.. what do you think?