Should I use rain water or invest in a reverse osmosis machine?

biddy

biddy

Member
Im living in Mexico City right now and im trying to do a pretty decent size grow and Ive noticed recently that my plants are suffering. They all have yellow and brown spots in the leaves and the leaves are falling off on the bottom-most part of the plant. Im not really a newbie - but im not a pro yet either. But ive been trying to figure out what the problem is for the last week and I finally figured out that its my water. I grow in a fairly old building with a very old pipe system. I found out yesterday that our pipeline has trash and all kinds of other shit in it. Ive been giving some horribly contaminated water to my plants and I didnt even know! The PH was always ok- a little low at 6.3 for a soil grow, but Im pretty sure the problems are coming from the gross hard water.

So my question is should I try to catch rain water and use that? Or should I get a R/O machine? Ive heard rain water is great, but I'm in one of the biggest cities in the world - 24 million people population. Is the rain water in bigger cities really bad because of all the pollution? I tested the PH of some rain water here and it was ok, but im just not sure if it would be the best thing to use in a big gross city like Mexico City...? Im testing one plant right now with some rain water, but I just started a few days ago and I cant see much of a change yet. Everything else is gettting distilled water bought from the store until i get this all figured out.
 
HowzerMD

HowzerMD

Well-Known Member
I wouldn't rely soly on rain water. You would need lots of room to store it if you wanted enough to sustain during times of no rain. Otherwise, RO sounds like a great idea if your water is that disgusting.
 
doc111

doc111

Well-Known Member
biddy said:
Im living in Mexico City right now and im trying to do a pretty decent size grow and Ive noticed recently that my plants are suffering. They all have yellow and brown spots in the leaves and the leaves are falling off on the bottom-most part of the plant. Im not really a newbie - but im not a pro yet either. But ive been trying to figure out what the problem is for the last week and I finally figured out that its my water. I grow in a fairly old building with a very old pipe system. I found out yesterday that our pipeline has trash and all kinds of other shit in it. Ive been giving some horribly contaminated water to my plants and I didnt even know! The PH was always ok- a little low at 6.3 for a soil grow, but Im pretty sure the problems are coming from the gross hard water.

So my question is should I try to catch rain water and use that? Or should I get a R/O machine? Ive heard rain water is great, but I'm in one of the biggest cities in the world - 24 million people population. Is the rain water in bigger cities really bad because of all the pollution? I tested the PH of some rain water here and it was ok, but im just not sure if it would be the best thing to use in a big gross city like Mexico City...? Im testing one plant right now with some rain water, but I just started a few days ago and I cant see much of a change yet. Everything else is gettting distilled water bought from the store until i get this all figured out.
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Ebay has reverse osmosis filters for around $79. Rainwater can cause problems in an indoor grow (usually in the form of hitchiking pests). I've never been to Mexico City but I've been told that the air pollution is horrible so acid rain could be a problem as well. I think your best option is an r/o filter.:weed:
 
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