Question about water for outdoor organic garden

[royfree2grow]

We are all talking organic growing here... If you aren't familiar with what organic growing really is then some things will sound very strange to what you may be used to.

Well... I'll admit my level of knowledge on organic growing is slim to none but if one waters with 9.0 ph water, to my knowledge they will have to compensate by amending the soil with something that'll balance the ph to the right range or else the plant's nutritional intake wouldn't suffice to develop farther... So it does't depend solely on the "quality" of the soil but rather on the "right quality" which should vary according to the ph level from the tap... i'm growing 100% organic right now btw...

 

[sixstring]

i was answering the op based on outdoor growing and in ground.you wouldnt want to use that kind of water in potted plants imo.but potted plants dont normally have worms living in them ect.

 

[Seamaiden]

Sixstring, you make a good point. I do use that water for my potted plants, though, because I'm seriously cheap. Adjusting pH downward won't do a thing about the carbonates present, which is what can potentially cause the biggest problems with regard to an enclosed soil volume.

 

[sixstring]

we use well water on our potted flowers also.i think if the soil is good and all your doing is watering its fine 99% of the time.problems start when you toss cannabis specific nutes into the mix.

 

[Underthesun]

Bumping an old thread instead of starting a new one. I'm new to outdoor organic growing and like the info here. I believe my well water is up around 700 ppm and our soft water is around 300 ppm. A few years back I grew with my well water had issues, switched to my soft water and my plants exploded, I was using this with the Fox Farm lineup ( not organic ). The bud looked and smelled amazing but burnt black. I flushed for three weeks with my soft water.

So now I'm growing organic in hopes of smooth smoking buds that are just as dank. I've been worried about getting black burning buds if I use my well or soft water so I have been going to the stream for clean low ppm water. But after reading this I may just use my soft water except for my teas, I'll continue using stream water for those. I believe my soil is high in microbe life, I give it compost teas all the time.

So, do I risk harsh smoking buds that burn black with high ppm water in a completly organic soil?

 

[Seamaiden]

That is some SERIOUSLY high ppm/hard water. I thought mine was bad, and I don't filter it for my OD girls at all and don't have problems with harsh smoking or black burning buds. But water like that? I'm really not sure. My bigger worry is how it would end up affecting the soil. Personally I think the black burning might have more to do with the fertilizers you were using than the water.

 

[Underthesun]

Yeah, I think I over did it with the ferts last time in combination with the water. The plants loved it, but it was a tough year smoking that all the time. I don't want to deal with that again, so I'm going to keep filling 5 gallon buckets of stream water on my way home when I pass a nice mountain stream. I tested the stream water and it has basically zero ppm according to the test strips....probably not accurate but maybe, its a fast flowing stream. Funny thing is that's illegal and growing isn't...I only take 15 gallons at a time anyways. I wish we would get some rain, then my rain barrels would fill up...oh wait, that's illegal too!

 

[lazyfarma420]

Never Phd my water my girls have bin outside since April and haven't had any issues at all red wigglers and microbes should do all the work for your soil..... next year I will experiment

with no till gardening bin hearing great things about it and truly is 100% organic

 

[Seamaiden]

Yeah, I think I over did it with the ferts last time in combination with the water. The plants loved it, but it was a tough year smoking that all the time. I don't want to deal with that again, so I'm going to keep filling 5 gallon buckets of stream water on my way home when I pass a nice mountain stream. I tested the stream water and it has basically zero ppm according to the test strips....probably not accurate but maybe, its a fast flowing stream. Funny thing is that's illegal and growing isn't...I only take 15 gallons at a time anyways. I wish we would get some rain, then my rain barrels would fill up...oh wait, that's illegal too!

Not if you're in California. In 2012 our legislature passed the Rainwater Reclamation Act.

 

[Underthesun]

CO, only state in the union to still not allow rain water collection. It actually went to the state senate this year to allow for one 50 gallon barrel per home and the republicans shut it down, they get big bucks from big farming and they control the water out here. They claimed it was a slippery slope. Fuck them, we aren't even in a drought anymore out here. I'm not trying to be political at all, just stating what is true and what happened. Land of the free but you don't own that rain that falls on your roof, you little worthless civilian.

 

[Seamaiden]

Mm.. I think Oregon is another state that doesn't allow unpermitted water collection.

 

[Underthesun]

I believe in Oregon you can collect personal amounts of water off of a structure, just not build yourself a lake like one guy recently did.

 

[Seamaiden]

I was just watching the weather channel yesterday and they said something like 85% of Washington state is in a state of drought. :o

 

[Sunbaked]

I used EM-1 for mold prevention this year, I had no Idea that it also makes pot plants grow like weeds. made Bokashi from it and put in hole at planting. only used 20% of nutes from last year.If your not using some sort of microbes ,you should. I may go all organic next year with this stuff. anybody else using it?

 

[Seamaiden]

Yes, we've got a cat here who goes by the nick leadsled who uses it on the regular, swears by it. I haven't done the actual bokashi, and I had no luck trying to culture lactobacillus using the usual rice water + milk recipe. However, I'm a sourdough baker and I have definitely got my yeast on. Not so much lactobacillus, so my breads don't have that very tart flavor.. sorry for the digression, but I use my discarded starter in both my soil and aquaponic cultivation now.

We really CAN'T live without microbes.