RO system necessary for hydroponics?

An RO system would be nice but I don't really see the need in my case. The plants do fine with straight tap water with no sitting out. If I lived in an area with bad tap water, I'd invest in an RO system for sure but since the tap source here comes out at 80ppm, it isn't really necessary.

my tap water (in a major us city 1mil plus) fluctuates between 350-680 ppm, so I use RO, I have decided to buy a filter as I am damn tired of filling up home depot buckets weekly. I would also add if you can harvest rain water and you are only trying to grow a single plant for personal use and one plant lasts you a month or more then I would say just use hard water specific nutes and add in cal mag if needed. I do love using RO as add back to the res as it only lowers the ppm and lets me be in control of it, not the city.

smppro said:

Yea i shouldnt have said it like that, it takes up space as far as growing is concerned, its hooked up under my sink for drinking water and for my fish, i think that they are great, its just easier for me to get it from the tap.

Click to expand...

My RO setup is in my basement, so for drinking water I have to take the cooler water bottle down stairs to fill, and then lug it back upstairs.
But I got a 35 gal. plastic drum from a car wash, I cleaned the hell out of it, cut a hole into the top so I could drop in water pump and install a RO float valve. I don't use that water for drinking, only for plants and I always have 30+ gal of RO standing by. The pressure tank is there I get my drinking water from and since the drum is not under pressure, it can not back flow. Plug in the pump and out comes nice "plant clean" RO water. The RO machine will automatically shut off when both are filled.

RO filters are relatively cheap insurance against many problems. As MJ is a high value product the use of RO filtration as pretty much become the norm amongst small growers. It is less seldom use by large growers who mix their own fertilizers but still widely used by those who buy their fertilizers, In general regardless of what the manufacturers say or write they mix fertilizers based upon the fact that average tap water across the country has medium hardness so they consider the average water as having a TDS of 100.

Good Cheap RO filters: http://www.thefilterguys.biz/ro_di_systems.htm

shit my tap is 490ppm I'm thinking about investing in a distiller http://www.nutriteam.com

Definitely not necessary, but certainly worthwhile to look into. Aside from feeding plants, I drink RO water (I get compliments from guests on how good my water tastes). Yet another benefit of having RO water is that is makes a great spot free rinse for cars, motorcycles, or whatever you wash.

without using a ro unit you will be fighting your water with your nutes always use ro water.

hammer21 said:

without using a ro unit you will be fighting your water with your nutes always use ro water.

Click to expand...

Not always necessary. Not everyone must use RO, and I am a person who ownes a RO machine. Yes, you have total control over the nutes and PH, but that is not always needed for the the Joe Sixpac grower. With 100% RO you have other additives to buy and use to make up for what is missing in the RO water.
Pure RO= added nute costs and maybe better yield. To a supplier, that may be a big thing but to a casual smoker, not normally worth the expense.

Fayman said: Man those are insane levels, both the beginning TDS and the additional TDS. Your TDS even with the initial TDS need not be above 1000 ppm. Contrary to popular a high EC does not increase the uptake of nutrients but actually nearly always decrease the uptake when above an EC of 1. You need to read up on osmosis dude. Definition: Diffusion of fluid through a semipermeable membrane from a solution with a low solute concentration to a solution with a higher solute concentration until there is an equal concentration of fluid on both sides of the membrane. ie. your nutrient solution is not going to provide as many nutrients if the EC is high. Period.

Tru Dat. Well said and supported Fatman. I have been pushing my DM Gold to 1500+ but seeing tip burn. I backed down to 1200 and still have tip burn. Now working down to 1000. My high ppm might be one reason why I have not gotten root hairs on my lateral roots, the other I resolved 3 days ago by installing a DIY chiller via PVC into my root chamber where RH was hanging over 80%, now mid 50s-low 60s.

I have been using a Kinetico RO with autoflush for cooking, drinking, ice cubes for 8+ years. If it's important for me, it is for my garden, too. The Merlin seems like a good RO, but I have no persoanl experience

hth