(well Water )for first grow

[Boarhead67]

getting ready to start my first grow an i have well water the ppm is 212,, an ph is 7.33 im thinking thats will work for my grow but am wondering if there was anything els i needed to look for befor i go ahead an use it or go down to the market an get ro for 25 censt a gallon lol anyway any input would be helpfull ty

 

[Moshmen]

Without having a content sheet from the water company I’d say looks good - just dechlorinate for 24 hrs before use

 

[Boarhead67]

Dechlorinate well water ? its not going through any softers or any chem it pumped right from the well to the waterter tank our landlord is cheap lol so would be strait well water so i would still need to do this 24 hrs befor use?

 

[MIMedGrower]

I would test any well water before using. (Or drinking). There are water test kits at stores and online for $20.

 

[MHOGSMI]

No, you don't need to let well water sit for 24hrs. I also run well water. But it's worth the 15-20$ to get it tested to see what's exactly in it. Well water can be hard and have more sulfur(egg smell) tannin/ iron(red stain on appliances) and other trace elements (cal/mag) than you want for your grow. Too much iron can lead to iron bacteria which isn't good for hydro. Water is your first concern.

 

[oldskol4evr]

i use well water,mine is 315 ppm and 7.2 ph,my system goes as follow
with seedlings and clones i buy bottle water and feed them ro water and the low number feed that is required for youth,as in 250 ppm,when i get the third set of true leaves i bump up my ec to around 300 ppm also transplant at this time,i feed them 300 ppm until they get there legs under them from the transplant,once they start to rock on,i start using my well water,i just add very little feed and let the plants enjoy the well water,thing is and your issue too i can almost garuntee is the limestone base aquifer, calcium,mine changes with the seasons too,so how i combat that with my veggie garden were i have no choice but use the well water is about every 6 weeks i add about 1/2 cup of ironite from garden center or home depot,the sulfur in it helps nutrilize some that calcium and controls the soil ph also,
for my weed i use ro water,i use cal mag with it,
i use well water i use no cal mag
for coco as i mentioned i start out with ro water and add the calmag,that said i only use 150ppm of the cal mag leaving 100 ppm of food,coco always food never plain water,i know debatable,thats just how i roll.
once i have the plant ready to transplant ,i drop both ro water and calmag

 

[MIMedGrower]

i use well water,mine is 315 ppm and 7.2 ph,my system goes as follow
with seedlings and clones i buy bottle water and feed them ro water and the low number feed that is required for youth,as in 250 ppm,when i get the third set of true leaves i bump up my ec to around 300 ppm also transplant at this time,i feed them 300 ppm until they get there legs under them from the transplant,once they start to rock on,i start using my well water,i just add very little feed and let the plants enjoy the well water,thing is and your issue too i can almost garuntee is the limestone base aquifer, calcium,mine changes with the seasons too,so how i combat that with my veggie garden were i have no choice but use the well water is about every 6 weeks i add about 1/2 cup of ironite from garden center or home depot,the sulfur in it helps nutrilize some that calcium and controls the soil ph also,
for my weed i use ro water,i use cal mag with it,
i use well water i use no cal mag
for coco as i mentioned i start out with ro water and add the calmag,that said i only use 150ppm of the cal mag leaving 100 ppm of food,coco always food never plain water,i know debatable,thats just how i roll.
once i have the plant ready to transplant ,i drop both ro water and calmag

Have you tried mixing the well water with ro water 50/50? Almost perfect numbers like that for you.

 

[Boarhead67]

Yea found ro water 25 cents a gallon at the local store here so that's exactly what I was thinking mixing it 50 /50 it does have a strong rotten egg smell tho an red stain on everything all ways cleaning something so was thinking just buying ro water .with this being my first grow I did change my mind on just right now so got this promix from hydro store dude said was a good choice said should maybe get to know how to grow an then start to experiment with hydro when I learn more he saved me a few bucks also that way lol anyway ty all for the info was very helpful my 4 girls just pop there heads out this morning so I'm on my way will post a grow journal also I know I'll need the help thanks again all stay safe

 

[oldskol4evr]

Have you tried mixing the well water with ro water 50/50? Almost perfect numbers like that for you.

no bro to much a headache,i only use ro water when the plants are small i use the hannah feed schedule,so when i get to 3 or 400ppm i ditch the ro water and use the well,on my veggie garden i add the sulfur to balance out the high ph ,works pretty good the mangnese adjust to keep it from being toxic,hell you know the game out of question to mix nutes for a 40 x 40 bottom garden then i have the 24 container garden on top of hill here so no ph control other than the sulfur it actually works well.take in consideration i also reamend yearly and add esentail elements for my micro nutreints,then i add a touch more mangnese for the water adjustment

 

[oldskol4evr]

Yea found ro water 25 cents a gallon at the local store here so that's exactly what I was thinking mixing it 50 /50 it does have a strong rotten egg smell tho an red stain on everything all ways cleaning something so was thinking just buying ro water .with this being my first grow I did change my mind on just right now so got this promix from hydro store dude said was a good choice said should maybe get to know how to grow an then start to experiment with hydro when I learn more he saved me a few bucks also that way lol anyway ty all for the info was very helpful my 4 girls just pop there heads out this morning so I'm on my way will post a grow journal also I know I'll need the help thanks again all stay safe

let me ask this,the rotten egg smell is sulfur the red staining is iron,is this coming threw the pipes to the house? have you went to the well storage tank and ran it ?does it have same smell? does your well have a filter?

 

[MHOGSMI]

I've never really heard of a well storage tank. I have an artisan well.(natural spring). It goes by pipe to a constant pressure pump that's 25gallons. It keeps the pressure the same no matter how many sources of water you have running. But by no means a well tank. My filter. Specifically designed to rid iron and bacteria. It's pulled through a Specific medium to rid iron and then h202 is added to kill bacteria. Works great for my system. Iron shield water system.

But in Michigan, I've never heard of wells having tanks or filters, just water softerns.

 

[tomatoesarecooltoo]

My well water is around 600 pms (if I remember correctly) and the plants still like it.

Had a friend who couldn't garden with his well water, but that stuff was 1900 ppms and brown. Artichokes were the only thing that could handle it.

 

[Moshmen]

I've never really heard of a well storage tank. I have an artisan well.(natural spring). It goes by pipe to a constant pressure pump that's 25gallons. It keeps the pressure the same no matter how many sources of water you have running. But by no means a well tank. My filter. Specifically designed to rid iron and bacteria. It's pulled through a Specific medium to rid iron and then h202 is added to kill bacteria. Works great for my system. Iron shield water system.

But in Michigan, I've never heard of wells having tanks or filters, just water softerns.

Wish I had my Michigan well water back! Lol

 

[Boarhead67]

No filter an it's on a 10 apartment site so I don't have access to the well it's self just ran it from tap an checked it that way an don't think there is a strange tank unless u mean the water heater tank but it come right from the ground to hot water tank no filter or softer or anything hooked to it

 

[Boarhead67]

But every apartment has same smell as mine

 

[WarpFactor8]

Have you tried using a GAC filter for your well water? It should remove the rotten egg and most of the iron and rust. I use an RV water filter for this connected to a food grade garden hose. Works great for drinking water too.

Edit...just saw you live in an apartment. You might be able to rig up a filter inside without causing a problem.

 

[Boarhead67]

No haven't may look it to that .was also thinking bout just running a test have some extra seed was going to put one down an just use the well to see how she likes it if dint work or she hated could just go to the ro an stay with it but may run up to lowes or Wally world an pick up a filter an hose also

 

[WarpFactor8]

PPM of 212 is kinda high. If you use it, you should acidify to reduce bicarbonate. Having too much iron could be the biggest problem. The filter I use removed all the iron, but it wasn't very high to begin with. Buying water is a chore and more costly than filtering your own.

 

[Boarhead67]

Yea guess I need to do some research lol have 4 new girls just popped there heads out yesterday think till I find the right thing may just be forced to use the ro water it's .25 cents a gallon so not to bad the filter I'm going to go up to the store in a bit an see if I can find one

 

[MHOGSMI]

At one point in my growing days. I made a two bucket filter set up. Two brita filters in cut out holes on the bottom of a 5gallon bucket. Then just placed that on another 5gallon bucket that had a lid on it with holes cut to slide the filters into. Good for 80gallons per 2 filters...