New House, New Water

C

Cupboard guy

Active Member
I’ve recently moved house and started my first grow in the new place.
I always used tap water in the old house for DWC and NFT but the hardness if the water in my new place is causing problems. I’m pretty sure I’m getting lockout from the huge amount of calcium in the water.
Is there any way to get rid without RO as the funds are tight? Will boiling help?
I’ll get some pics uploaded for the help.
Growing NFT with canna nutes at 400ppm
and tap water is 300ppm.
Water and air temps are spot on as is PH. 0FA72990-A97D-4D5D-95EC-0445AE09493D.jpeg0FA72990-A97D-4D5D-95EC-0445AE09493D.jpeg0FA72990-A97D-4D5D-95EC-0445AE09493D.jpegD29D8B91-49FC-4731-ADF7-C374418D6F04.jpegA41B87B6-67EA-4D46-A439-2EDD6E6D113E.jpeg201C676B-D010-4841-AA93-6993C6F175E3.jpegFFEECBD4-313A-4F85-8FDA-6C4FCEC41C90.jpeg0FA72990-A97D-4D5D-95EC-0445AE09493D.jpegD29D8B91-49FC-4731-ADF7-C374418D6F04.jpegA41B87B6-67EA-4D46-A439-2EDD6E6D113E.jpeg201C676B-D010-4841-AA93-6993C6F175E3.jpegFFEECBD4-313A-4F85-8FDA-6C4FCEC41C90.jpeg
 
L

Larry3215

Well-Known Member
The new growth all looks good. Are you sure its not the result of a problem that is now resolved itself?

As far as the mineral content - have you seen a water report that says whats in the water? if it really is calcium, then just lower than part of your nutes - or can you do that?

For example, I use jacks 321. If I was in your situation, I would just lower the calcium nitrate ratio when mixing.

Oh - boiling does nothing for minerals. RO also may not lower the mineral content depending on whats actually in your water.
 
Renfro

Renfro

Well-Known Member
Cupboard guy said:
Will boiling help?
Click to expand...
Boiling would actually make it worse by condensing the PPM as water boils off.

I have worked with 300 - 350 PPM water in the past but I use the GH Flora 3 Part and just switched to the hardwater micro instead of the regular micro, less calcium. Like @Larry3215 said, reducing the calcium content of the nutes to offset the calcium already in the water might be the easiest solution.

When dealing with high PPM it's wise to get the water tested for mineral content. They will provide a mg/l (PPM) number for each element present in the water so you can quantify magnesium and iron as well because you may want to dial those back in your nutes as well.
 
C

Cupboard guy

Active Member
I know that the calcium is 92mg/l as it states on the water board website, as for other mineral composition I’m really not sure.
So the best option is buy specialised nutrients? Hopefully I can get some before too much damage is done
Thanks for the reply’s @Renfro and @Larry3215
 
go go kid

go go kid

Well-Known Member
Ways to Reduce or Remove TDS in Water
  1. Reverse Osmosis (R.O.) Reverse Osmosis removes TDS by forcing the water, under pressure, through a synthetic membrane. ...
  2. Distillation. The process involves boiling water to produce water vapor. ...
  3. Deionisation (DI)
dont know how helpfull that is , but thaught id post it anyways

What will dissolve calcium?
Luckily, calcium carbonate is easily dissolved in a range of mild acids. You can buy brand-name limescale removers, but many common household substances will also do the trick. Two of the most effective substances are lemon juice and ordinary vinegar.
again, not sure if its any use
 
C

Cupboard guy

Active Member
@go go kid
Thanks for the reply, any info is welcome.
I've read about vinegar and lemon juice but I think the quantities needed have to much of an effect on ph.
I will be getting an RO filter but funds are a tight because ... well, COVID!
Thanks again
 
C

Cupboard guy

Active Member
Also to add, acids like lemon and vinegar are usually for solid deposits of calcium and I don’t think it would dissolve it in a solution. As far as I can tell the calcium needs actually removing from the water like in the 3 examples from your post.
 
L

Larry3215

Well-Known Member
Those pics dont look like excess calcium - at least based on a couple of web 'experts'.

pevgrow.com

▷ Lack or excess of calcium in your marijuana plant

Get the right level of calcium for your cannabis plants ⭐ Avoid excess or deficiency in your marijuana crop ⭐ Everything you need to know!
pevgrow.com

But, other sites say that excess calcium can cause lockouts of other nutes, so it could look like other things too - maybe?

Im still not convinced you have a current problem. All the leaves should show this if it was really that bad.

But, diagnosing plant nute issues is really a black art as far as Im concerned. Generally, if 4 people give you an opinion, you will get 6 different answers.
 
C

Cupboard guy

Active Member
@Larry3215
The problem has moved up to the next set of leaves so I’ve lowered the ec to see if it slows down. You are right, diagnosing deficiencies is a nightmare. Everything is dialled as far as I can with what I’ve got to hand. It’s frustrating, never had these kinds of issues in the past really.
 
C

Cupboard guy

Active Member
Just an update,
Turns out my ph meter is on the fritz!
my ph was reading 5.6 to 6.2 and being adjusted back down. Recalibrated my ph pen and tried again it was showing 6.0 before calibration and 5.0 after!! That’s quite a way out.
I had only calibrated the damn thing at the start of this run a couple of weeks ago.
I see it time and time again, OG members hitting home that ph is nearly always the culprit and now I feel silly.
Hopefully I’ll see an improvement moving forward,
Any changes and I’ll update.
thanks for the advice guys
 
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