My hard water is 525 ppm

[SkeeterGirl54]

1st time grower and my water is hard. How does that affect cannabis? I've read conflicting information. Use tap water, don't use tap water. Bottled water gets expensive at 5 gallons at a time. My tap water reads 525 ppm

 

[Stoned4daze61]

Just means you have less available room to add nutrients. Say you have a mature plant at 1000ppms, if your water is 525ppm then you only have 475ppm to add nutrients. I'm not too sure on the ppm's of bottled water but it is reverse osmosis water that you want. RO water is close to 0ppms, only problem is you must supply additional cal/mag since tap water contains a decent amount of it. Reverse osmosis filters aren't too expensive, or if you have a liquor store or food 4 less they might sell it for 25-50 cents a gallon. You can still grow fine herb with tap water, but RO water allows you to feed as much nutrients as possible.

 

[SkeeterGirl54]

Bottled water has a ppm of 0 also. So if I use water that starts at 0 ppm I need to add additional cal/mag above what I get with my supplemental fertilizer? Is cal/mag something I can buy as individual components? Is so, how would I know when I have the correct mixture? Perhaps to reduce cost I could use a 50% tap and 50% bottled water. What are your thoughts on that?

I hope I'm not over thinking everything.

 

[Stoned4daze61]

Bottled water has a ppm of 0 also. So if I use water that starts at 0 ppm I need to add additional cal/mag above what I get with my supplemental fertilizer? Is cal/mag something I can buy as individual components? Is so, how would I know when I have the correct mixture? Perhaps to reduce cost I could use a 50% tap and 50% bottled water. What are your thoughts on that?

I hope I'm not over thinking everything.

Mixing tap and bottled would be fine. If you are growing in soil, you can amend with something like gypsum and calcium carbonate (CaC03). For people who grow organically in soil, tap is not necessarily a good idea because the chlorine kills the colony of microbes in the soil. You can buy a bottle of calcium/magnesium or you can buy them individually to tailor the correct ratios for MJ. If you use 50/50 and don't amend the soil with those additives, or are running hydro then I would hit the plants with some cal/mag every 2-4 weeks. If you go straight RO or bottled water then I would give doses every 1-3 weeks.

 

[SkeeterGirl54]

I am using a hydro system. I'll see if I can find some calcium/magnesium at my local Lowe's. Thank you for the info. I appreciate all of the help I can get.

 

[Stoned4daze61]

I am using a hydro system. I'll see if I can find some calcium/magnesium at my local Lowe's. Thank you for the info. I appreciate all of the help I can get.

I don't think they will carry any. You need to go to a hydro shop or order online. I know my local hydro store sells a bottle of cal/mag for like $16-$20

 

[SkeeterGirl54]

Ok, thanks again.