question about h20

[dr green bud]

i have a few indoor and outdoor grows under my belt but im still stuck on the question do seedlings do better with distilled h20 rather then tap water .i know tap h20 has trace minerals and chlorine and whatnot and that would increase the tds of the water but being that im not giving my infants nutes for the first 2 to 3 weeks because i have them in fox farm ocean forest and they say no nutes are needed for that time period any and all comments and advice is welcomed...

 

[AimAim]

I have grown in soil for years with whatever comes out of the tap, or hose, or lake/river.

Pot plants are not the pussies a lot of people make them out to be. Unless your water has some extreme component you'll be fine.

 

[Native Humboldt]

I always leave my H2O in the res overnight the chlorine evaporates out leaving a better quality feeding water. The chlorine kills the microbes in the soil and root systems. I will someday purchase a reverse osmosis filter system there about 300 bucks.

 

[dannyboy602]

i have a few indoor and outdoor grows under my belt but im still stuck on the question do seedlings do better with distilled h20 rather then tap water .i know tap h20 has trace minerals and chlorine and whatnot and that would increase the tds of the water but being that im not giving my infants nutes for the first 2 to 3 weeks because i have them in fox farm ocean forest and they say no nutes are needed for that time period any and all comments and advice is welcomed...

there's actually enough in your mix for initial growth. seedlings don't need that much. they'll grow well even in a sterile peat/lite mix. added nutes aren't necessary until a few weeks to a month depending. tap water is definitely better and if you are concerned bout chlorine just let it sit out overnight and it will evaporate.

 

[dannyboy602]

here's a c+p about microbes and chlorine I thought was interesting

There is a constant cycle of life and death within the soil environment, compared to other life forms, microbes have a rather short life span to begin with. Depending on species, the life cycle from birth to death can be measured in hours. The time frame in which they can repopulate their species also varies.
If certain zones of the soil are temporarily sterilized, the remaining unaffected species that have not been affected can potentially restore the population when their environment stabilizes.

One must keep in mind that there are limits to the amount of abuse any populations within the soil community can tolerate, weaker species of microbes can and will be eradicated, stronger resistant species can displace the diversity of your soil upsetting the balance of Nature and potentially lead to negative effects such as increased disease problems to follow.
The effects/chemical reactions of chlorine are far more complicated than can be explained here, even the subject of by products formed due to chemical reactions between chlorine and organic matter (Trihalomethanes) is another problem.

 

[AimAim]

I always leave my H2O in the res overnight the chlorine evaporates out leaving a better quality feeding water. The chlorine kills the microbes in the soil and root systems. I will someday purchase a reverse osmosis filter system there about 300 bucks.

Yeah, nice thought but most municipalities use chloramine now, which doesn't evaporate.

Millions of people use tap water on gardens and house plants. They don't give it a second thought and everything grows well.

 

[dr green bud]

last indoor grow i did i used distilled h20 from seed to chop...the down side was i had 25 plants in 7 gal containers and the h20 bill was getting outta hand..so u guys are saying its ok to use tap with no nutes while their seedling as it wont mess up the ppm with the tds then once i start them on a nute schedual switch back to distilled h20 or r/o water when i pick up my filter? thanks again for ur guys fast input much appriciated

 

[Native Humboldt]

I found this on RIU forum ad found it very interesting the line explains a lot I didn't know about my tap water:

" Ok, so I constantly see this conversation about water and Chlorine or Chloramine and it seems many people really have no clue about their tap water and if they have Chlorine or Chloramine in their local waters.

Many people state that they use tap water for watering their plants, others state you should not use tap water due to chlorine and others say you can use tap water if you fill your water container and let it sit out at least 24 hours. The 24 hour or longer sit period is to allow Chlorine to evaporate, which is very true it will do so in a period of 24-36 hours. However sitting your tap water out in the open for 24-36 or even longer will not let Chloramine evaporate. Actually one of the only techniques for removing Chloramine from tap water is to run the water through an extensive carbon filter (to remove the chlorine molecule) followed by a reverse osmosis or cation filter (to remove the ammonia) is necessary. Chlorine on the other hand can easily be removed water tap water, letting sit out, running through a simple carbon filter, or using any aquarium based Chlorine remover.

How do you tell if you have chlorine or chloramine in your tap water? Well there are many ways to find out, including asking your local water company, another route is to visit http://www.ewg.org/tap-water/home ... then enter your zip code into the Whats in your water? box located on the right hand side. You will then see a page listing all the elements in your tap water. You will either have chlorine listed or a chloramine.

You can also read much more into chloramine at:
http://chloramine.org/chloraminefacts.htm

Chlorine or Chloramine are not bad for your plants, they will not kill your plants. What Chlorine does do is actually effect the micro's in your soil. There are many benefits though to using tap water to water and feed your plants. chlorine in your tap water can actually help reduce or eliminate many root or soil related diseases and illnesses, but does kill many micro's in soil. It is a catch 22 really when you really think about it, but be assured majority of all tap water in the US is safe to use on plants with doing nothing more than a PH up or down and many times PH of water coming out of a tap is great for soil grows. Not all locations, so do please check your tap water for PH and adjust if necessary.

I hope this information helps anyone out there, I hope the noted web sites above give some great information to those that use it.

Good luck with all your

 

[dr green bud]

thanks for that post about tap water native humbolt....like i said b4 i have a few grows indoor/outdoor under my belt...this tim i was forced to germ. and seedling them in one place then move them to my vegg /flower room elsewhere..now i had them under t5's about 4 to 6 inches away no humidity dome and it was kinda dry in the initial room. they started to cup upwards dry out turn yellow and have the feeling of fake money that real dry papery feel u guys think its from the low humidity or the floros were too close..im in ny and its pretty brick here now so when i moved them i had to travel about 5 miles to my spot i warmed the car and all and i transplanted them in their new pots..what should i do to help them recover...its mostly the bottom leaves that r fucked and theres new growth jus really slow.....any pointers ill take..like i said im not new but im no pro so any help is apprieciated thank!!!

 

[dr green bud]

holy crap native i jus checked out that link about the water companies and whats in ur h20...funny how they said my h20 ranked in the top 5 in the country yet its got more chems and pollutants then the national average...that makes me think
if my plants are too good for tap shit my kids are gonna only drink distilled water too amazing what u learn with a lil research thanks for that link

 

[hydrogreen65]

The ppms of my tap water stayed at arou.d 85 with a ph of 6.5 for the longest time.
Now for the past cpl wks ppm is at 130 and ph of 5.2. Dont know what the hell happened.

 

[Balke Buds]

I collect rain water in 50 gallon barrels that are connected to the rain spouts on my house. I can tell you that the water that falls from the sky and the water that comes out of the tap are VASTLY different. The plants I use the rain water on are so much healthier than plants watered by city water. I really believe the chlorine in the water is what is the difference.
Just my opinion based on observations made through my experiences.