Hard Water

[bigweedo]

Hey Everyone,

Wanted to start a post on hard water and how people deal with it.

I've been having issues with hard water throughout some of my grows. I think it has been the cause of nutrient lock out issues I've had in recent grows. (deficiencies, high pH.) The PPM of my water ranges from 125-130 and the pH ranges from 7.2-7.8.

I live in an area that has less than 20 inches of rainfall, which leads to water with high Mg and Ca, I have to clean my shower head every couple of months to stop blockage. Do most counties treat their water with salt/Na? This makes me nervous with sodium being available to bind to my soil because it is in my water.

What do you guys do to fix your "hard water" problems? I've heard of using Ionic hardwater line of nutrients, pH up and down.

Any suggestions/discussion is greatly appreciated!
Thanks,

Big

 

[Canso]

reverse osmosis fixed mine, I have it set up on a float switch so there is always 30gal. on hand.
gets my water down to 1-2 ppm

 

[Growdude]

125-130 is not bad. Mg and Ca are both used by plants. no need for Cal-mag

 

[dragnit]

My well water runs at 360 with a ph of 7.8 . I use rain water which has a ph of about 6.2 then add my nutes which brings the solution down to 5.4. I add well water to bring it back up to 5.8 for my coco grow.

 

[Lemon Jack]

Ya a reverse osmosis filter will clean your water almost completely. My water isnt really that bad and works out fine in my grows.

 

[bigweedo]

I'm planning on using earth juice and i've been hearing you don't need to worry about pH. Is that a old wifes tale, or is there some truth to that?:icon_smile:

 

[Lemon Jack]

I dont know never used it but personally I wouldn't trust any of theses nutes that "buffer" ph I would still keep tabs on it to keep it in the optimum range