What about natural water sources for indoor grows?

[elusiveshame]

This might sound like a silly question, so I apologize in advance if it is.

I've been using tap water here (ph of 7 out of the tap, city/town provided and not well water), and once in a while I'll use bottled water if I'm just feeling lazy.

While having my morning toke, I was thinking of ways to cheapen my utility bill (my water bill was over $200 for this previous quarter, but that's largely from having to refill part of my pool over the summer), and I thought "well, can I just use rainwater", followed by "well, can I use melted snow?" (both to a reasonable temperature and not super cold or overly warm). Not that watering my plants is going to cost me a ton, but I've been getting into a "reuse as much as I can" mode to just be more efficient with things rather than being wasteful.

I'd imagine rainwater would be okay as long as it's free from debris and bugs, and probably snow, but I'm not 100% sure.

I can't imagine relying solely on rainwater with an indoor grow as you'd need it to rain every few days, or stash a large amount of rainwater at once.

Rain water would have some variation of nutrients I'd imagine (and by extension, snow), so it might be tricky to dial in additional nutrients. Aside from that, is there any other cons to using rain water/snow on an indoor grow? Has anyone done it before, and what was your nutrient schedule like? Was there any noticeable difference in outcome with using rainwater vs potable water?

(also, this could also apply to rivers and streams - I just don't have any of those near my property :P)

 

[TomH]

I use captured rain water for my carnivorous plants. I can promise you these plants are much more intolerant than weed.
Rainwater should be great, melted snow might depend upon how it was collected (avoid road salt, exhaust soot etc.).

 

[elusiveshame]

I use captured rain water for my carnivorous plants. I can promise you these plants are much more intolerant than weed.
Rainwater should be great, melted snow might depend upon how it was collected (avoid road salt, exhaust soot etc.).

I was actually looking into trying to grow some pitcher plants one of these days haha. What kind do you grow? Do you solely use that, or is there any fertilizers/nutrients you also mix in with the rainwater?

The snow (if we even get any this year - 50F yesterday in New England is pretty unusual this time of year) I would be collecting would be from my backyard, away from salts and other pollutants like exhaust. But yeah, those are very good points about snow to keep in mind. I do have black walnut trees in my backyard (behind the fencing), so I'd have to make sure anything I collect (as well as plant) is at least 20 feet away from them (and also not under the canopy) to avoid potential juglone toxicity.

 

[mysticepipedon]

Rain is probably just fine.

 

[TomH]

I was actually looking into trying to grow some pitcher plants one of these days haha. What kind do you grow? Do you solely use that, or is there any fertilizers/nutrients you also mix in with the rainwater?

The snow (if we even get any this year - 50F yesterday in New England is pretty unusual this time of year) I would be collecting would be from my backyard, away from salts and other pollutants like exhaust. But yeah, those are very good points about snow to keep in mind. I do have black walnut trees in my backyard (behind the fencing), so I'd have to make sure anything I collect (as well as plant) is at least 20 feet away from them (and also not under the canopy) to avoid potential juglone toxicity.

I have some American Pitcher plants, Venus fly trap and sundews.
They love both rainwater and distilled water.
There is a fertilizer called MaxSea 16.16.16 that is highly recommended. I have some, but my bog is going into dormancy for the winter so I won't know until next spring.
There is also another called Jesse Mae carnivorous fertilizer and soil conditioner.
The sundews don't get any of the above, during winter I might need some freeze dried mealworms.

Good luck, lots of fun.

 

[GandolfGuerilla]

This might sound like a silly question, so I apologize in advance if it is.

I've been using tap water here (ph of 7 out of the tap, city/town provided and not well water), and once in a while I'll use bottled water if I'm just feeling lazy.

While having my morning toke, I was thinking of ways to cheapen my utility bill (my water bill was over $200 for this previous quarter, but that's largely from having to refill part of my pool over the summer), and I thought "well, can I just use rainwater", followed by "well, can I use melted snow?" (both to a reasonable temperature and not super cold or overly warm). Not that watering my plants is going to cost me a ton, but I've been getting into a "reuse as much as I can" mode to just be more efficient with things rather than being wasteful.

I'd imagine rainwater would be okay as long as it's free from debris and bugs, and probably snow, but I'm not 100% sure.

I can't imagine relying solely on rainwater with an indoor grow as you'd need it to rain every few days, or stash a large amount of rainwater at once.

Rain water would have some variation of nutrients I'd imagine (and by extension, snow), so it might be tricky to dial in additional nutrients. Aside from that, is there any other cons to using rain water/snow on an indoor grow? Has anyone done it before, and what was your nutrient schedule like? Was there any noticeable difference in outcome with using rainwater vs potable water?

(also, this could also apply to rivers and streams - I just don't have any of those near my property :P)

Build a still. For real life homie.

 

[Moshmen]

I use rainwater - just don’t store it for long period of time and works fine - personally I mix 50/50 with my tap water to obtain the combination I want.

Problems usually arise from using multiple sources / not being consistent imo