Water?

[Canachris]

I use tap water,the water from my faucet is some of the best in the country. but I don't know how much if any the clorine affect the plants. I do let it age in gallon jugs at least two weeks in hopes that some clorine will evaporate.

 

[Emilya Green]

Some facts:

• Chlorine in trace amounts is actually one of the 17 elements that our plants need in order to grow.
• It actually takes swimming pool strength chlorine to kill off all the microbes in soil, especially outside where it is perfectly ok to use the garden hose to water your garden.
• Unless you are conducting a true Organic grow, where you are actively keeping the soil alive with microbes, and where you are not giving nutrients, but just water, and letting the microbes do all the feeding for you, chlorine will not hurt your grow.
• Re-read the last point

If you are running a hydro type grow, where it is important to know the exact PPM of particulates in your water, chlorine is not usually part of or added to the filtered/distilled water, but it doesn't specifically need to be removed... it just is.

Chlorine is not nearly as harmful as most of your forum and youtube dwellers make it out to be. Talking about it does make a lot of people sound terribly important though.

 

[AdaminCO]

Some facts:

• Chlorine in trace amounts is actually one of the 17 elements that our plants need in order to grow.
• It actually takes swimming pool strength chlorine to kill off all the microbes in soil, especially outside where it is perfectly ok to use the garden hose to water your garden.
• Unless you are conducting a true Organic grow, where you are actively keeping the soil alive with microbes, and where you are not giving nutrients, but just water, and letting the microbes do all the feeding for you, chlorine will not hurt your grow.
• Re-read the last point

If you are running a hydro type grow, where it is important to know the exact PPM of particulates in your water, chlorine is not usually part of or added to the filtered/distilled water, but it doesn't specifically need to be removed... it just is.

Chlorine is not nearly as harmful as most of your forum and youtube dwellers make it out to be. Talking about it does make a lot of people sound terribly important though.

Chloramine is a different discussion though correct. Isn’t the ammonia harmful to plants?

 

[Canachris]

thanks for the 411. ok one less thing to worry about

 

[bluter]

Some facts:

• Chlorine in trace amounts is actually one of the 17 elements that our plants need in order to grow.
• It actually takes swimming pool strength chlorine to kill off all the microbes in soil, especially outside where it is perfectly ok to use the garden hose to water your garden.
• Unless you are conducting a true Organic grow, where you are actively keeping the soil alive with microbes, and where you are not giving nutrients, but just water, and letting the microbes do all the feeding for you, chlorine will not hurt your grow.
• Re-read the last point

If you are running a hydro type grow, where it is important to know the exact PPM of particulates in your water, chlorine is not usually part of or added to the filtered/distilled water, but it doesn't specifically need to be removed... it just is.

Chlorine is not nearly as harmful as most of your forum and youtube dwellers make it out to be. Talking about it does make a lot of people sound terribly important though.

before ro only ever left open buckets to off-gas the stuff. used to boil water as well. that was a dark ages practice but it had merit for the time.

edit : to be clear we ran it through a crude filter after .. in case anyone gets a dumb idea lol ..

 

[Emilya Green]

Chloramine is a different discussion though correct. Isn’t the ammonia harmful to plants?

I would think that the bond would hold and the complex molecule would be too big to pass up into the plant... so far I have not had any trouble using tap water. I did it all the time I ran Fox Farm nutes and MegaCrop and never had a problem.

 

[AdaminCO]

Here is what I found....


Chloramines make the water acidic which over time can change soil pH. This may result in nutrient tie-up and create yellowing (chlorosis) problems in many plants. Chloramines prevent the absorption of other nutrients which also may lead to yellowing.

The action of chlorine and chloramines kill bacteria both good and bad. Many good bacteria that live in the soil control fungal diseases. When we lose these good bacteria there is no natural control and turf grass diseases like "Brown Patch, Take All and St. Augustine Decline" become rampant. In other words the more one waters, the greater the chance that one will experience disease problems in their grass and other plants.

Chlorine and chloramines kill the nitrifying bacteria that fix nitrogen from the air into the soil. Hence additional nitrogen must be supplied to the plants to replace the loss of free nitrogen from nature.

Container plants (hanging baskets, pots, etc.) are more susceptible to damage from chloramines as they tend to require more watering.

Studies have shown that chloramines hurt the germination of seeds from many species of plants.

Chloramine is neutralized in the soil by reactions with organic matter, destroying it in the process. Organic matter in the form of humus can hold 15 times its weight in water, hence the soil loses some of its ability to hold and store water.

Chloramine hurts the production of compost tea as it kills off some of the microbial species that one is trying to grow to high densities. Note: One teaspoon of humic acid (liquid form of humate) can neutralize the chloramines in 100 gallons of water depending on the exact concentration of chloramines.

Using high humus products like compost, native mulches (that have been composted) and humate in ones landscape is the easiest way to minimize the damage from chloramines and chlorine. This ensures that even if some of the organic matter is destroyed and some of the beneficial microbes are killed, the soil life can quickly regenerate and prevent problems.

 

[AdaminCO]

I know folks do their own thing, but its very easy for me to just mix a 1/4 tsp. of powdered ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) into my 5 gallon jugs just in case.

 

[Emilya Green]

I know folks do their own thing, but its very easy for me to just mix a 1/4 tsp. of powdered ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) into my 5 gallon jugs just in case.

after reading your thing I might do that too... wow!

 

[AdaminCO]

This is what I’ve been using...

1/4 tsp in a 5 gallon jug. I have 3-4 jugs rotating, so they each typically get to sit for 48 hrs or so.

 

[Emilya Green]

bet its cheap too

 

[AdaminCO]

bet its cheap too

$22 for 17oz bag or $17 for 9oz.
The 9oz has gotten me through my entire grow so far.

 

[bluter]

vitamin - c is also an old school ... my hydro shop in the 80's gave it away free with a 100 buck purchase - came in a baggie with a photocopied set of mixing instructions .. like all their nutes lol

 

[Emilya Green]

that should last several years. Excellent! As you said, as easy and cheap as this is, why not?

 

[AdaminCO]

vitamin - c is also an old school ... my hydro shop in the 80's gave it away free with a 100 buck purchase - came in a baggie with a photocopied set of mixing instructions .. like all their nutes lol

They make a Vitamin C filtered shower head too. Lol!
When I told my wife about it, she wanted it because she says all the chlorine/chloramine in the water here dries her scalp really bad. Some days you’d swear you were standing by a swimming pool.

 

[bluter]

that should last several years. Excellent! As you said, as easy and cheap as this is, why not?

i should have a hard look. water here is terrible. and i am on a march for ever simpler ... em knows


edit : have my own ro filter - but run between two places to keep it clean and legal .. boy that's getting old...

 

[Emilya Green]

They make a Vitamin C filtered shower head too. Lol!
When I told my wife about it, she wanted it because she says all the chlorine/chloramine in the water here dries her scalp really bad. Some days you’d swear you were standing by a swimming pool.

come to think about it... I can smell chlorine when I take a shower. hmmm

 

[AdaminCO]

Found this in my research awhile back. It’s a bigger article, but here’s the data I used. This is how I came up with the measurements.

25mg/gal = 125mg 5gal
The smallest measuring spoon I have is the 1/4 tsp, so that’s what I’ve used.

“It takes about 1,000 mg of vitamin C (ascorbic acid form) to remove chloramines from 40 gallons of water”

• Chloramine Removal:
  Carbon filters remove this chemical but the filter is used up much faster than for other chemicals and takes much longer to do the job. A special form of carbon, “Catalytic carbon”, as it works better than standard carbon (sometimes called Centaur). In other words it will require a larger and more expensive filter to remove it.
  
  
• Carbon filters remove the chlorine portion of the molecule leaving the ammonia behind hence it requires another stage of filtration such as reverse osmosis to remove it.
  
  Vitamin C filters – For showers this works better than other types at removing chloramines.
  
  
• It takes about 1,000 mg of vitamin C (ascorbic acid form) to remove chloramines from 40 gallons of water.
  
  Reverse osmosis units do remove chloramines as they generally have a couple carbon filters but they often produce large amounts of salt (sodium) in the water which can also cause problems if used to water plants.
  
  Double counter top units work better than single stage filters for drinking water(Cool water must be used for these filters to work effectively).
  
  Note: When chloramines is coupled with chlorine and fluoride the combinednegative effects on plant and soil health is much greater.
  
  REFERENCES:
  Removing Chloramines from Water, Pure Water Products, LLC.
  Citizens Concerned about Chloramine,
  Chloramine Facts - Citizens Concerned About Chloramine (CCAC)
  Citizens Concerned About Chloramine (CCAC)
  Home - Citizens Concerned About Chloramine (CCAC)
  
  Alternative Disinfectants and Oxidants Guidance Manual, EPA 815-R-99-014, April 1999
  WHO’s Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality. PDF 145KB
• Wikipedia – Chloramine
  Chloramines - Wikipedia
  
  Catalytic Carbons Help Remove Chloramine, by Stephen Spotts
  Calagon Carbon Corporation
  
  HTG Supplys “Ask The Doc”,
  
  “Chloramines Can Kill Your Plants”
  
  “Water Problems and Ornamental Plants”
  
  “Watering the Vegetable Garden with CityWater”
  Watering the Vegetable Garden With City Water | Veggie Gardener
  
  The Case Against Fluoride, Paul Connett, PhD, James Beck, MD, PhD and H.S. Micklem, DPhil, Chelsa Green Publishing, Copyright 2010, ISBN 978-1-60358-287-2

 

[Emilya Green]

lol... i give up. Chlorine bad. Chloramine worse. I am going to take a new look at using my tap water, and clearly although I was able to get away with it all these years, probably removing it is one of those things I can improve in my gardens. Thank you guys. I have been schooled.

 

[AdaminCO]

When we first moved to CO I studied the water very carefully because of all the stuff that happened with the fire back in the 50s at the uranium factory and the Dow Chemicals leak and recovery efforts. It’s disgusting the amount of crap they pumped into the ground here.
My dog doesn’t drink the tap. Lol.