Tap Water Question

Ok so i did have an RO system until someone decided to steal it from our garage along with the lawnmower and other tools (scumbags). Before i buy a new one i was wondering about my tap water. It sits around 160 ppm which is i think medium hard. Can i use this with the lucas formula? I have soft water nutes so might need some adjustment. I've been growing in soil so until now it didn't matter, but might switch to coco if i can use tap water. Oh the pH is 7 straight from the tap.

that is low ppm for tap atleast for california it is. RO is better, but i dont think it would hurt i use TAP for my moms and clones and they seem to be fine at my house. and its higher than that.

Well my RO system was a good one, microprocessor controlled auto flush, float valve etc and some piece of shit swiped it with other tools, probably too stupid to know what it is but it'll cost a lot to replace so if i can use tap i'd be damn happy. As i understand it (please correct me if wrong), hard water nutrients contain a buffer to lower the pH of hard tap water, as my water is medium hard and i have soft water nutes, i could just throw in some pH down to get the levels right. Would i also need cal mag or should the waters 140ppm be enough to cover it?

i dont have a lot of experience with hard water specific nutrients, but i would imagine they would be designed to be less concentrated since you are starting with a higher ppm more so than a ph issue. you shouldnt need cal mag since it is not RO water, unless you have a deficientcy.

So with my tap water (160 ppm/pH 7) and the soft water nutrients i have, i shouldn't need to add anything (in theory) and it'll be ok to use with coco? I might give it a try and see, it would really save on the soil, thanks guys.

now you are bringing in another variable lol. with coco you might have to add cal mag. run it how you have it with your nutes and tap water and watch your plants let them tell you if they need it or not. i just started with coco in my ebb and flow systems and i have noticed the plants needed more cal mag than i would normally use in hydroton. im also using RO water, but in the past i've had grows where i didnt need to add cal mag until late in veg or flower.

jdmcwestevo said:

now you are bringing in another variable lol. with coco you might have to add cal mag. run it how you have it with your nutes and tap water and watch your plants let them tell you if they need it or not. i just started with coco in my ebb and flow systems and i have noticed the plants needed more cal mag than i would normally use in hydroton. im also using RO water, but in the past i've had grows where i didnt need to add cal mag until late in veg or flower.

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Pretty sure i mentioned coco in my opening post, so not adding a variable at all I'll pick up some cal mag, it's not exactly expensive so good insurance. Thanks.

stoned and following 10 threads lol sorry