Why not rainwater?

[saltybluegrass]

do i miss dialing my grow in with this natural abundance? it comes in at
33 ppm with 6.7 ph - i like the idea of watering my dogs and plants with this.
is it a big problem for the purists?

 

[Oldbear]

Im no purist but those seem like great numbers to me.

 

[KenneyHo]

I’m still new to all of this(first grow) but i would think it has to do with not wanting to bring outside elements into an indoor grow. Controlling the environment supersedes the potential benefits from the rainwater. Again I’m a noob so take what I’m saying with that knowledge!

 

[Emilya Green]

In my organic garden I have been even known to use lake water. As long as you collect the rainwater cleanly, what could it hurt?

 

[saltybluegrass]

my tap water is 330 ppm and the city is telling me to drink away!! They’re the good nutrients they say. lol no thankyou

 

[saltybluegrass]

In my organic garden I have been even known to use lake water. As long as you collect the rainwater cleanly, what could it hurt?

painters screen and spigot 2 inches up from sediments - nice abundance honestly as i grow lettuce in december

 

[Emilya Green]

you are lucky... in some states doing that would be illegal

 

[Oldbear]

Hi KennyHo - I'm curious...what sort of outside elements contamination are you concerned about?

 

[saltybluegrass]

you are lucky... in some states doing that would be illegal

and we can’t get open mar. laws having to deal with people that outlawed rainwater lol where’s George Carlin

 

[Kongfuzi]

I’ve used rainwater my whole grow and it’s turned out great.

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Er i'm some sort of heathen scum...i just use water straight from the tap


Yarp done so for years.

I'm soil grower indoors & if any of this shit mattered ? i would more likely know by now.

 

[KenneyHo]

Hi KennyHo - I'm curious...what sort of outside elements contamination are you concerned about?

Being new to all this....I’m concerned about anything that could increase the environmental variables of my grow room. If it’s outside, it stays outside. I may be overly cautious and completely wrong, which is why I let my noob status be known lol

 

[Weaselcracker]

do i miss dialing my grow in with this natural abundance? it comes in at
33 ppm with 6.7 ph - i like the idea of watering my dogs and plants with this.
is it a big problem for the purists?

I’ve used rainwater only for my grow for over ten years.

I’m curious what yours might be collecting, salty. Mine is zero Ppm and 5.6 ph, which I understand to be normal. Could there be something from your roof that’s dissolving into it and raising the ph? Not necessarily an issue- I’m just curious.

 

[Oldbear]

Noob status has no relationship with good ideas

Its possible to pick up mold or moss or algae from the rainwater I suppose.

 

[saltybluegrass]

I’ve used rainwater only for my grow for over ten years.

I’m curious what yours might be collecting, salty. Mine is zero Ppm and 5.6 ph, which I understand to be normal. Could there be something from your roof that’s dissolving into it and raising the ph? Not necessarily an issue- I’m just curious.

we may have high sulpher in the air with toxic runoff in water canals - roof is 12 years old asphalt shingles -

 

[Weaselcracker]

Hmmm... yeah maybe it’s the asphalt. I generally avoid using roofs with tar on them if I can. Not for drinking or dishes anyway. I usually only collect off of clean metal roofs or else more commonly cedar shakes and shingles. Cedar may give it a little hint of it’s own thing too, but most of my shakes and shingle roofs are 40 or 50 years old- well washed by a lot of rain.

6.7 is a pretty big jump from normal rainwater so it’s definitely taking on something along the way.

 

[Weaselcracker]

As for the algae thing- it can be an issue sometimes. Standing cisterns do tend to grow pythium type slimes. Usually this goes unnoticed by me, but i could see it being an issue in a DWC hydroponic grow. In which case you’d want to sanitize the cisterns once in a while. Soil and soilless is a bit more forgiving, but it’s helpful to add beneficial fungi and bacteria. Sometimes I hit cloning issues and wonder if pythium is to blame. But who knows. Everyone has cloning issues once in a while.

Also you will have to add Calmag for any type of grow other than true soil.

 

[pontiacman]

I collect and use rainwater during spring and summer. My plants love it. I mix my tea in it...