RO Water

[silverhaze]

Hey guys,

On week 5 Flower of my first indoor grow and all going very well. I've been using tap water with an inline sediment filter which admittedly doesn't do a lot. I've planned to go to an RO filter and I'd like to do it now since I intend to do a 7 day flush in week nine. So, can I install the RO filter now and for the last 4 weeks? Or just stick with what I've been doing. The only "new" thing is that a few of the larger lower leaves have started to yellow but doesn't that happen around this time? I know my tap water is hard it sometimes registers over 300 ppm so I am certain the RO will be a great improvement. Just don't want to shock the lovely ladies. Cool to make that change for week 6?

Thanks all..

 

[motherlode]

it shouldnt shock them at all - go for it mang

 

[hiboy]

Most that will happen is having to add more nutes to get up to ur ppm.
And youll have to buy calmag now. If you plan on doing it u can, or just wait for the next run
h

 

[silverhaze]

Most that will happen is having to add more nutes to get up to ur ppm.
And youll have to buy calmag now. If you plan on doing it u can, or just wait for the next run
h

Cool thanks. Agreed on the CalMag. One of the problems we've been having is that once our rez is full our ppm's are too high so we have to adjust. Certainly the reason is that we're starting with to many ppms in the tap water. Think this should cover that and give us a nice clean finish.

Thanks again.

 

[hiboy]

Cool thanks. Agreed on the CalMag. One of the problems we've been having is that once our rez is full our ppm's are too high so we have to adjust. Certainly the reason is that we're starting with to many ppms in the tap water. Think this should cover that and give us a nice clean finish.

Thanks again.

silver
i always add base ferts last, first the scheduled additives and then only enough base nutes to get to ur ppm level.
Then u wont go over ur ppm level and fry them
h

 

[OGONLY]

I love R/O water for flushing. I like the idea of there being nothing (minerals like calcium and magnesium as well as other shit is in tap water) the plant can eat so they can get their fade on. If I were you I'd get one now for that reason alone.

 

[UCtheOceanState]

RO is the best for flush, it shouldnt matter if you switch from tap to RO in week 6

 

[ttystikk]

I love R/O water for flushing. I like the idea of there being nothing (minerals like calcium and magnesium as well as other shit is in tap water) the plant can eat so they can get their fade on. If I were you I'd get one now for that reason alone.

Let's not go overboard here- calcium, magnesium and iron are all essential nutrients for plants. Calcium especially is needed in quantities similar to P or K in veg. They don't need quite that much in flower, but they still need it throughout their life cycle.

That said, using RO water will be the better choice because you'll be able to control the amounts of these minerals in your system, whereas before you were stuck with what the tap provided- an often unknown and even variable quantity.

Another benefit of RO is that if you're running beneficial microbes, you won't have to let your tapwater outgas to get rid of chlorine and chloramines, stuff that municipal water utilities puts in tapwater to keep it fresh in the pipes on the way to your house.

silver
i always add base ferts last, first the scheduled additives and then only enough base nutes to get to ur ppm level.
Then u wont go over ur ppm level and fry them
h

Last thing I'd recommend is now that you're going to be adding calcium to your water, ADD IT LAST, after all other nutes are in and properly diluted. If you add it first, you run the risk of 'flocculation' which is when calcium binds with other nutes and drops out of solution, causing nutrient lockout.