Reverse Osmosis and growing cannabis (Part 1)

[Josh]

My apologies though, for real. Don't get me wrong, I love this topic bro!
Mainly because it's a never ending debate, lmao

On one side with RO, you start with perfectly clean water. Fantastic! Now we just add back in a bunch of stuff that we took out, and viola! A perfectly tuned recipe for our plants, with nothing that they don't need in the water
sarcasm

See where I'm going with this?
You are 1000% correct though, some households NEED RO water
Let's not even talk about Flint, Michigan

Just hear me out on this though-

With affordable units, it takes 8-10 gallons of tap to make 1 gallon of RO (I'm sure pricy ones are more effiecient)
If you're paying for water, I think this is already a deal breaker unless you absolutely NEED it

I'm like you in the sense that I want to do everything possible to maximise the grow. But with plants, I just don't feel like RO makes a difference unless your tap is insane.
My shower turns orange every month from buildup but the plants are fine

These days I look to maximise output with minimal input, and I feel RO just isn't in line with that





Sent from my LGMP260 using Tapatalk

Dude!!!! We are on the exact same page! This is what I'm saying in this write-up :) but...... I think there is benefits to using RO. And I'll go into that in part 2. Your point about putting back what we took out, kind of true when we're talking salts but there are other things RO removes but cost over return, you got me there :) you're not going to see 30% bigger returns or even 5%. You may notice small nuances but nothing to get excited about. Your tap water grown weed is just as good as my RO grown weed. This is why I said wait for part two :) I don't want to ruin it by going into it too deep here and I want to give RO a fair trial. This post was the prosecution and part 2 will be the defense. But, the reason why I use RO is to stop the fooking limescale buildup. My tap water can glue a dinner plate to a table :)

Right that is interesting. Calimagic is indeed derived from calcium carbonate. When you say PPM, what scale?

I'm not trying to defend tap grown weed or anything, lol. I think good weed is good weed, no matter how it's grown

I just really dislike the idea of new growers getting ripped off by a market that seems to have only boomed because of weed growing
Hydroponic nutrient companies and RO suppliers being the big ones. Lol

I do appreciate the leg work you're doing though, testing is what it's all about

Sent from my LGMP260 using Tapatalk

[Josh]

My apologies though, for real. Don't get me wrong, I love this topic bro!
Mainly because it's a never ending debate, lmao

On one side with RO, you start with perfectly clean water. Fantastic! Now we just add back in a bunch of stuff that we took out, and viola! A perfectly tuned recipe for our plants, with nothing that they don't need in the water
sarcasm

See where I'm going with this?
You are 1000% correct though, some households NEED RO water
Let's not even talk about Flint, Michigan

Just hear me out on this though-

With affordable units, it takes 8-10 gallons of tap to make 1 gallon of RO (I'm sure pricy ones are more effiecient)
If you're paying for water, I think this is already a deal breaker unless you absolutely NEED it

I'm like you in the sense that I want to do everything possible to maximise the grow. But with plants, I just don't feel like RO makes a difference unless your tap is insane.
My shower turns orange every month from buildup but the plants are fine

These days I look to maximise output with minimal input, and I feel RO just isn't in line with that





Sent from my LGMP260 using Tapatalk

Dude!!!! We are on the exact same page! This is what I'm saying in this write-up :) but...... I think there is benefits to using RO. And I'll go into that in part 2. Your point about putting back what we took out, kind of true when we're talking salts but there are other things RO removes but cost over return, you got me there :) you're not going to see 30% bigger returns or even 5%. You may notice small nuances but nothing to get excited about. Your tap water grown weed is just as good as my RO grown weed. This is why I said wait for part two :) I don't want to ruin it by going into it too deep here and I want to give RO a fair trial. This post was the prosecution and part 2 will be the defense. But, the reason why I use RO is to stop the fooking limescale buildup. My tap water can glue a dinner plate to a table :) you would only use RO to solve an issue. If you don't have an issue, you're breaking thr KISS rules.

Right that is interesting. Calimagic is indeed derived from calcium carbonate. When you say PPM, what scale?

Oh, and 700 scale

Sent from my LGMP260 using Tapatalk

[seymore_budz]

My apologies though, for real. Don't get me wrong, I love this topic bro!
Mainly because it's a never ending debate, lmao

On one side with RO, you start with perfectly clean water. Fantastic! Now we just add back in a bunch of stuff that we took out, and viola! A perfectly tuned recipe for our plants, with nothing that they don't need in the water
sarcasm

See where I'm going with this?
You are 1000% correct though, some households NEED RO water
Let's not even talk about Flint, Michigan

Just hear me out on this though-

With affordable units, it takes 8-10 gallons of tap to make 1 gallon of RO (I'm sure pricy ones are more effiecient)
If you're paying for water, I think this is already a deal breaker unless you absolutely NEED it

I'm like you in the sense that I want to do everything possible to maximise the grow. But with plants, I just don't feel like RO makes a difference unless your tap is insane.
My shower turns orange every month from buildup but the plants are fine

These days I look to maximise output with minimal input, and I feel RO just isn't in line with that





Sent from my LGMP260 using Tapatalk

Dude!!!! We are on the exact same page! This is what I'm saying in this write-up :) but...... I think there is benefits to using RO. And I'll go into that in part 2. Your point about putting back what we took out, kind of true when we're talking salts but there are other things RO removes but cost over return, you got me there :) you're not going to see 30% bigger returns or even 5%. You may notice small nuances but nothing to get excited about. Your tap water grown weed is just as good as my RO grown weed. This is why I said wait for part two :) I don't want to ruin it by going into it too deep here and I want to give RO a fair trial. This post was the prosecution and part 2 will be the defense. But, the reason why I use RO is to stop the fooking limescale buildup. My tap water can glue a dinner plate to a table :)

Right that is interesting. Calimagic is indeed derived from calcium carbonate. When you say PPM, what scale?

I'm not trying to defend tap grown weed or anything, lol. I think good weed is good weed, no matter how it's grown

I just really dislike the idea of new growers getting ripped off by a market that seems to have only boomed because of weed growing
Hydroponic nutrient companies and RO suppliers being the big ones. Lol

I do appreciate the leg work you're doing though, testing is what it's all about

Sent from my LGMP260 using Tapatalk

My apologies though, for real. Don't get me wrong, I love this topic bro!
Mainly because it's a never ending debate, lmao

On one side with RO, you start with perfectly clean water. Fantastic! Now we just add back in a bunch of stuff that we took out, and viola! A perfectly tuned recipe for our plants, with nothing that they don't need in the water
sarcasm

See where I'm going with this?
You are 1000% correct though, some households NEED RO water
Let's not even talk about Flint, Michigan

Just hear me out on this though-

With affordable units, it takes 8-10 gallons of tap to make 1 gallon of RO (I'm sure pricy ones are more effiecient)
If you're paying for water, I think this is already a deal breaker unless you absolutely NEED it

I'm like you in the sense that I want to do everything possible to maximise the grow. But with plants, I just don't feel like RO makes a difference unless your tap is insane.
My shower turns orange every month from buildup but the plants are fine

These days I look to maximise output with minimal input, and I feel RO just isn't in line with that





Sent from my LGMP260 using Tapatalk

Dude!!!! We are on the exact same page! This is what I'm saying in this write-up :) but...... I think there is benefits to using RO. And I'll go into that in part 2. Your point about putting back what we took out, kind of true when we're talking salts but there are other things RO removes but cost over return, you got me there :) you're not going to see 30% bigger returns or even 5%. You may notice small nuances but nothing to get excited about. Your tap water grown weed is just as good as my RO grown weed. This is why I said wait for part two :) I don't want to ruin it by going into it too deep here and I want to give RO a fair trial. This post was the prosecution and part 2 will be the defense. But, the reason why I use RO is to stop the fooking limescale buildup. My tap water can glue a dinner plate to a table :)

Right that is interesting. Calimagic is indeed derived from calcium carbonate. When you say PPM, what scale?

I'm not trying to defend tap grown weed or anything, lol. I think good weed is food weed, no matter how it's grown

I just really dislike the idea of new growers getting ripped off by a market that seems to have only boomed because of weed growing
Hydroponic nutrient companies and RO suppliers being the big ones. Lol

I do appreciate the leg work you're doing though, testing is what it's all about

Sent from my LGMP260 using Tapatalk

Yea man me too. Trust me I've called out a few to their faces. It's supprising but we don't have much of a problem with people pushing RO machines over here even though 60% of the UK is hard to very hard water. It's normally the internet nerds that end up with em like me. Nutrients on the other hand, don't get me started lol and breeders! If we're going there, let's not leave out the money hungry breeders too. The hobby space is full of them ready to empty your wallet of cash.

But please don't think I'm trying to convince anyone to use RO. I just wanted to present some of my thoughts and things I' e learnt and let the individual decide. The other thing I find in the hobby space is the internet is full of dictators. People will shove their misconstrued opinions down your throat and call you a Fairy if you disagree. A lot of that also leads to confusion and misinformation. Most of the people doing that work for or have invested interests in selling shit. I really would hate to come across like that but sometimes I feel like I do when I read back some of the stuff I say. I want to get peoples thought juices flowing and for people to do their own research anf walk their own path. I strongly feel this is the way to stop all the misinformation out there.

Ahh OK so that's a decent amount of calcium carbonate, very interesting. I only glanced at the label and can't find it again now but it was mainly Calcium carbonate with magnesium nitrate and a little nitrogen and iron. Was it constantly dropping or fluctuating? I don't use airstones for this reason. I've just put a powerhead in my res so agitate the surface rather than blowing air and my PH is still rock solid. I know you'll have to take my word for it but my last res change was 3 or 4 days ago, mixed up 40ltrs then I've topped up twice with 5ltrs of RO and some base nutes. I've only done the initial adjustment of ph up as when everything is in the water at the correct levels, the PH is 3.4 and that's it. This current regime is honestly set and forget.

[seymore_budz]

So I just looked at the SDS for calimagic and it's actually 5% calcium ammonium nitrate that has been sourced from calcium carbonate. It's soluable so it doesn't block up your drippers but it wouldn't act as a buffer.

http://gh.growgh.com/docs/MSDS/CALiMAGicHCSv4_eng.pdf

A video on buffers.

[Minty]

Can't wait for part two so I can hopefully justify my purchase of the R.O. filter but for now I will add another negative and that is the TIME taken to fill an approximately 70L tank. This alone means if I mess up the dosing and have to dump it I wouldn't be able to do so until the next day while I wait for another tank of R.O. water to be able to re-fill.

One option would be to temporarily fill the Res using tap water and then dump that the next day and replace with R.O. but it already seems to me just going with the tap water in the first place might be easier if not so precise.

I know nothing about this subject so just tagging along for the ride and interested to hear both your comments.

[Josh]

So I just looked at the SDS for calimagic and it's actually 5% calcium ammonium nitrate that has been sourced from calcium carbonate. It's soluable so it doesn't block up your drippers but it wouldn't act as a buffer.

http://gh.growgh.com/docs/MSDS/CALiMAGicHCSv4_eng.pdf

A video on buffers.

Way above my head honestly but that's a great find!
I'll have to watch this and digest it many times...

Sent from my LGMP260 using Tapatalk

[seymore_budz]

Can't wait for part two so I can hopefully justify my purchase of the R.O. filter but for now I will add another negative and that is the TIME taken to fill an approximately 70L tank. This alone means if I mess up the dosing and have to dump it I wouldn't be able to do so until the next day while I wait for another tank of R.O. water to be able to re-fill.

One option would be to temporarily fill the Res using tap water and then dump that the next day and replace with R.O. but it already seems to me just going with the tap water in the first place might be easier if not so precise.

I know nothing about this subject so just tagging along for the ride and interested to hear both your comments.

I'll get it done by next week (famous last words). Indeed time is a pain in the arse. I had to buy a 50gpd pump for mine as it would take me about 5 hours to get 20ltr of clean water. I can now do about 20ltrs in 1.8hours but it's still a pain. I run humic acid and that buffers the ion exchange. That in theory will allow me to run my res on top-ups for around 12-14 days. I do rotate it a little more than that though. Did you check your water quality? I can't remember.

[seymore_budz]

So I just looked at the SDS for calimagic and it's actually 5% calcium ammonium nitrate that has been sourced from calcium carbonate. It's soluable so it doesn't block up your drippers but it wouldn't act as a buffer.

http://gh.growgh.com/docs/MSDS/CALiMAGicHCSv4_eng.pdf

A video on buffers.

Way above my head honestly but that's a great find!
I'll have to watch this and digest it many times...

Sent from my LGMP260 using Tapatalk

Ha, if I'm honest, I kind of understand it but don't to a comprehensive level. But I think the calimagic would actually increase the reaction because of the ammonia nitrate reacting with the co2. But I may have that wrong lol.

[Minty]

I'll get it done by next week (famous last words). Indeed time is a pain in the arse. I had to buy a 50gpd pump for mine as it would take me about 5 hours to get 20ltr of clean water. I can now do about 20ltrs in 1.8hours but it's still a pain. I run humic acid and that buffers the ion exchange. That in theory will allow me to run my res on top-ups for around 12-14 days. I do rotate it a little more than that though. Did you check your water quality? I can't remember.

Water quality is as follows, gonna quote the other thread rather than typing it again:-

Got a cheap PH and EC meter from Amazon and measured my water:-

R.O.Water = 7.01 pH, TDS @ 0009 ppm
TAP Water = 7.90 pH, TDS @ 0440 ppm

Should I be getting some of that Humic Acid? My concern with this lockdown is that things are not as obtainable anymore so a list of 'Must Have' items would be cool. Josh mentioned Silicates and Fulvic Acid. So is there a list of common known 'first aid' box items etc. we should have on hand?

[seymore_budz]

I'll get it done by next week (famous last words). Indeed time is a pain in the arse. I had to buy a 50gpd pump for mine as it would take me about 5 hours to get 20ltr of clean water. I can now do about 20ltrs in 1.8hours but it's still a pain. I run humic acid and that buffers the ion exchange. That in theory will allow me to run my res on top-ups for around 12-14 days. I do rotate it a little more than that though. Did you check your water quality? I can't remember.

Water quality is as follows, gonna quote the other thread rather than typing it again:-

Got a cheap PH and EC meter from Amazon and measured my water:-

R.O.Water = 7.01 pH, TDS @ 0009 ppm
TAP Water = 7.90 pH, TDS @ 0440 ppm

Should I be getting some of that Humic Acid? My concern with this lockdown is that things are not as obtainable anymore so a list of 'Must Have' items would be cool. Josh mentioned Silicates and Fulvic Acid. So is there a list of common known 'first aid' box items etc. we should have on hand?

I swear by it minty but it's personal preference. Humic and fulvic do pretty much the same thing but fulvic is more active because they are smaller. They do allsorts of good things like break bonds and make nutrients more available, stimulate root growth and improve stress resistance. It also acts as a buffer by cleaning up the plants waste. Silicon is also a plant inprover but again, it's not essential.