I have a bit of an odd one here. I have done a search and have not found anything, so at least I tried right? Anyway, what kind of water is best for plants? I have read of mixing solutions calling for distilled water. Distilled water makes since in terms of using pure water for our thirsty little babies. On the other hand, I can see an argument for good ol' home grown tap water that would have extra trace nutrients. Then throw soft water on there and it all gets confusing. Anyone sharper than myself, which would include pretty much everyone, care to take a stab at this one?
Its all to do with the ph (permanent hardness) of the water. A plant watered with soft water can uptake and use more plant food then a plant watered with hard water. values for mj would be a ph of between 5-7. Distilled water has a value of 7 so to get under that you add an acid ph adjuster.
That makes perfect sence. When one measures the ph level of the soil, is it a test for the ph of the soil it's self, or is it a test of the moisture in the soil? I've never given much thought about testing my water's ph level before I water my plants, I usually take it half an hour after I feed them from the soil it's self. Would it be better to pre-adjust the levels on the water and food before watering or would that be a wate of time due to the ph changing when it enters the soil because of what ever elements happen to be in the soil at the time? Would tap water be more beneficial than distilled water as far as the extra nutrients or does it matter because of the extras one adds anyway? I know, I'm full of odd questions.
Here in the united states and in tulsa oklahoma especially the .. tap water has a lot of posins in it (some put in on purpose)... we can't drink it .. and HAVE TO FILTER IT TO EVEN SHOWER OR TAKE A BATH in the city water.... .. so using tap water probably is not a good idea ... get minerals from other sources like seaweed / kelp / ocean source products... ..
id say that if you can drink the tap water, your plants should be fine. i mean, what do you water your houseplants with? they hopefuly arent dead yet, right? distilled water is likely better, but probably not really worth te extra cost and effort when you can boost the plant growth in easy, cheaper ways...
Not sure but i would say testing the soils ph can be an indicator of the build up of salts from over feeding and would test before an after watering. Distilled water is used mainly in hydro where you would use a more complete plant food that contains the vital trace elements.
SAY WHAT!!!!!! Someone is intentionally poisoning your water?????? And the authorities can't stop it!!!?!?! Only in OK!>D
Lol missed that one. The poisoning is making all the local women grow an extra testical but luckly nobody has notice.
get yourself a fishtank and some fish, use tap water for your fish, take fishtank water out for your plants.. get some aquatic plants in the tank and fish that are easy to maintain like goldfish feed em good and they poop alot.. this helps filters out some chlorine and other stuff and if your fish die you know that shit is bad..
Trouble with fish is most ppl set up a tank and fill it with fish the next day and wonder why they all die. Actually ya along the rite lines coz it more about keeping good water rather then the fish them selfs. Why do ppl only test ph and not the other components that can affect ph like gh and kh? When i used to keep soft water fish it was always a balancing act coz if the ph was low yet the gh and kh were high you knew that over a few days the ph would go up.
Rocklobster, I assume that the fish were the causes of the rise in PH, correct? If so, would it be better to treat the water to get the ph down to 6.5 or so before using it or would the soil and everything in it cause a change and it would be better to test the soil after using the fishy water? Maybe a little off subject, but is organic growing more beneficial than using chems? I would think using non-organic ferts would give better growth and yeild, but the buds may have some unwanted toxins. Or do the plants filter that stuff out anyway durring absorbtion? Sorry, a little new to this whole process, but I'm reading as much as I can and hopefuly asking the right questions.
Check out grow rooms and greenhouses:- ph adjusted water changing. The main benefit of organic fertilizer is none of the food has been dissolved in salts or are salt based. So if you over feed using a salt based food the salt thats not been used up by the plants will drop out and raise the ph this can happen really quickly and you get a double whamy 1) you've over feed and 2) because the ph is going through the roof the plants cant take up any food. Normally to flush any of the chemicals out of your plants you dont fed them for the last two weeks before harvest. On second thoughts if you can still get peat based soil then ya know its not gonna raise the ph in fact the peat would lower it.
