Well water or RO water?

[khadine]

I will be attempting my first grow and will be growing in soil. I am on a drilled well and the water is very hard so I have the water run through a reverse osmosis system. I was wondering if I should water with the RO water or the well water? I will be using a premium potting soil from seedling to finish. While I haven't bought the soil yet, I would assume that it would already contain the minerals needed. Would the additional minerals from the well water be too much for the plants?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Antics]

I believe that using the well water is a possibility, but it might depend on the PPM?

RO water is always a fine choice, and a lot of growers prefer it.

When you buy your soil, you can use Fox Farms Ocean Forest (FFOF) for plants, but it's too hot (too many nutes) for most seedlings. Only a few strains can tolerate its high level of nutes as a seedling.

The soil will contain SOME minerals and nutrients, but more than likely will not contain enough to complete the grow. You will need to purchase additional nutrients. I suggest avoiding all Miracle Grow products, and stick with a quality 2, or 3 part nute system that you have to mix yourself.

You might also need PH up or PH down, depending on where your soil is buffered.

And I strongly suggest buying a good digital PH meter right off the bat. One of my plants just died recently due to a bad meter.

 

[khadine]

Thanks Antics,

I found an old thread regarding well water and RO. I'll pick up a ppm as well as a ph meter. It's bad enough that I have a "black thumb" when it comes to plants I'd like to give my plants a fighting chance at least!

Learning so much from this site.

 

[thehitman]

If you are on a well, you should have a water analysis report from when the well was first drilled and tested by the health dept. That report can give you the information on your well water.

If you don't have a report, you can have the water tested by a local lab for a reasonable fee (around here is about $60).

If the water is hard that may be ok - don't use water that has been "softened"

 

[khadine]

If you are on a well, you should have a water analysis report from when the well was first drilled and tested by the health dept. That report can give you the information on your well water.

If you don't have a report, you can have the water tested by a local lab for a reasonable fee (around here is about $60).

If the water is hard that may be ok - don't use water that has been "softened"

Thanks. I had it tested about 15 years ago. Now if I can just remember where I put it!

 

[thehitman]

check with the lab - they should have a record of the test

 

[khadine]

I found a copy. Aside from the 17 different metals in the water usually in the range of 2.0 ug/L, I assume the following are what would interest me; Iron 1.0 ppm, hardness 17.0 gpg , T.D.S 610ppm, manganese 0.1 mg/L and PH 8.8. Any one see anything glaring in these numbers?

Not knowing enough about plants and their requirements I would think that as the water naturally occurring it should be ok. The driller told me that the water was probably 1000 years old as they had to drill through a lot of rock to get to it. hard to imagine there was anything back then to pollute it. Using RO water isn't a problem except the well is in the same building as my grow room, just more convenient.

 

[thehitman]

PH seems high - I'd recheck the PH of the water.

 

[Antics]

8.8 PH water will kill Cannabis quickly.

Check over this topic, it's long, but contains a breakdown of virtually everything you can imagine to grow Cannabis successfully: How to Grow Marijuana Everything You Need to Know

 

[khadine]

Thanks for the heads up Antics. I have ordered a PH meter and will go with RO water to be safe.

I finally managed to find some soil. Very difficult this time of year as most places don't get their garden and seasonal inventory set up for another month or so. Should have my grow room set up in the next couple of weeks. It's -15C tonight and the garage is too cold to work in. Once it's ready I'll germinate and see how she goes.

 

[Antics]

And get a grow journal started too. It's a great way to keep track of your progress, and show off your hard work