what can i use as r/o water coco coir

[lil ze]

i am using plain tap water with ph 5.6 to flush my plants every 3rd water, is this ok or what can i use as i do not want to but r/o unit .any cheap methods

 

[todgerdelburro]

plain tap is fine, especially if you are blessed with 5.6 out of the tap !

I only flush large outdoor coco plants once a fortnight, never used RO, never had any problems.

 

[herby]

5.6 outta da tap? Count your blessings LOL.

 

[aldus]

I think he means plain tap ph'd to 5.6. Any tap water coming out at 5.6 is going to be undrinkable.

 

[johnnyballbag]

It's kinda hard to say without knowing the ppm of your tap water. Where i'm at i wouldn't dream of using my tap water, but mine is around 450ppm out of the faucet. RO's aren't that expensive either, you can get them cheap on the good 'old bay of E. Less than a hundred dollars. Be happy you don't have my water. I run a 300 gallon per day RO with an 18 watt UV sterilizer and a 4 outlet air pump to aerate it. It could be worse!

 

[tantraman]

Why are you flushing every third watering? You risk flushing out the buffer that has been created and increasing potassium levels leading to further problems with magnesium def etc. Why dramatically change the EC zone at the root ball? If you are draining to waste, there is no salt buildup as each feed is effectively a flush.

There's an article floating around online called "Coco: busting the myth" which addresses this issue:

Even when fed correctly, and the correct "buffer" of nutrient ratio set up, just one watering with plain water will wreck the buffer, sending the plant and medium into shock and rapidly escalating the potassium level. Consequently, plants that do not have enough of some ions like calcium (there are several) due to underfeeding or washing out will show a deficiency in these and other elements. Meanwhile, potassium builds up the plant tissue, ultimately leading to margin burning on the leaf surface, mostly at the tip. The first thing the inexperienced grower assumes is that he is overfeeding and has salt issues. He will decrease the feed concentration and leach the medium. This, of course, magnifies the problem and makes it worse. The key to proper coco growing is to use the right feed to balance the products the coco gives off. Think not only about availability, but about the ratio of one mineral to another as well. It is also important to water correctly.

 

[LandraceQuest]

Why are you flushing every third watering? You risk flushing out the buffer that has been created and increasing potassium levels leading to further problems with magnesium def etc. Why dramatically change the EC zone at the root ball? If you are draining to waste, there is no salt buildup as each feed is effectively a flush.

An Enormous + 1 with you Bro'...

Exactly what i wanted to say...You took that words out of my mouth^^ :smiley_joint:

-LQ-

 

[herby]

I flush every once in awhile. Was doing it every 3rd watering religiously and had no problems. Backed off to maybe every 5th watering and still no problems. I also dont water to waste so I need to flush the salts out every now and then i suppose.

 

[Solidopc]

I'm on my first coco grow now, and am feeding plain ph'd water 5.8 every 3-4th watering. I don't seem to be having any of the issues you describe. The coco plants are super healthy, putting my soil plants to shame.

I don't have a run to waste or recirculating system. I just top water like i would soil plants. I was under the impression, that a plain water feed every so often was a good thing, and prevented the ph of the medium becoming too low, and preventing any salt build up.

Can't say what the finished product will taste like as it's my first coco grow, and i'm only 35 days into flower. But the plants are tremendously vigourous and healthy, so i don't really want to change the regime i'm doing unless the finished product is not right. But i can't see why a bit of plain water now and again should ruin the flavour etc.

 

[twisted metal]

I'm on my first coco grow now, and am feeding plain ph'd water 5.8 every 3-4th watering. I don't seem to be having any of the issues you describe. The coco plants are super healthy, putting my soil plants to shame.

I don't have a run to waste or recirculating system. I just top water like i would soil plants. I was under the impression, that a plain water feed every so often was a good thing, and prevented the ph of the medium becoming too low, and preventing any salt build up.

Can't say what the finished product will taste like as it's my first coco grow, and i'm only 35 days into flower. But the plants are tremendously vigourous and healthy, so i don't really want to change the regime i'm doing unless the finished product is not right. But i can't see why a bit of plain water now and again should ruin the flavour etc.

Its fine to flush with ph'ed tap water, i think there talking about regular feeding water. Some people will only flush the last 7-14 days of flower to insure the best possible taste. Im all about flushing every 3-4th watering to insure no salt build up.

In general most will tell you that RO water is must with coco and in most cases depending on your tap water it is. Some people think because there tap waters ph is not far off there fine but the ppm is very crucial. Like i say if it aint broke don't fix it.

 

[SkyHi]

Shit my PPM out tap is 300, lol. I havent had problems yet hopefully i dont begin.