Cal/mag In Filtered Water

[PpmOver9000]

I've tried to look up this topic but haven't found any definitive results so I thought I would post it myself. I am currently running a big boy filter to water my plants and the ppm comes out to around 350ppm. I know its high, but don't have an RO system set up yet so it's my only choice as of now. I looked up the hardness in my city and the average hardness is 250ppm.

So the calmag dosage I currently use is very little but then I learned that the form of cal and mag in city water has too big of molecules and aren't taken up by the plant and may actually clog root pores.

My initial reaction was to increase the calmag dosage to add about 200ppm to the water.

So questions are, is the calmag in city water really not used by the plant? And does it really clog the root pores?

Is adding 200ppm of calmag the appropriate repsponse?

Would love to hear some farmers that use filtered water and how they utilize calmag.

Im currently growing in RW on a top feed recirculating system

 

[KillerSativa]

I'm not sure if that big boy filter can remove the taps source of cal/mag. I certainly don't know anything about clogging roots but I would not add any unless you see signs of Cal or Mag deficiency. When using tap it's usually better to stay away from adding it unless you get your water tested and know what is really in it. Adding too much can cause bigger issues than not having enough.

This is my personal experience and since all water treatment and sources are local your tap may yield different results.

 

[Papa]

the number published for city water is for water as it leaves the treatment facility. i'm not surprised that you have more at your place, because it typically picks up minerals from the pipes as it comes to you. 'never heard of a different kind of calmag that clogs roots. maybe a chemist can chime in.