The lessons of calcium

[Vegas Kid]

If your going to run Lucas:
Don’t be a cheap skate; you bought that RO unit for a reason
470 PPM Vegas tap water is nearly toxic for dissolved solids (EPA)
You bought a tds meter too, file this one under Dumas
Sometime appearances are deceiving

Calcium toxicity (AKA nitrogen lock out) at low levels is insidious, it first presented as a nitrogen deficiency with the fading and yellowing of the lower fan leaves. Tap water at 200 ppm to as little as 75 ppm produced this effect. This was easily reversed by dumping the tank and restoring the nutrient mix without the tap water. The only variable in this twice repeated experiment (screw up) was the high calcium. If you don’t experiment once in while, where’s the fun? The pics were taken 3 days after restoration of the mix, same day they were flipped.

View attachment Cal 1 a.jpg

View attachment cal 2 a.jpg

 

[Locked]

Wow, 470 PPM Tap Water? That is crazy. I would imagine that plus hydro growing would be anything but fun. That would be mandatory RO right?
The reason I have stuck with soil is for it's forgiveness. Deficiencies happen too quick for my liking in Hydro.
Glad you got it figured out. They should rebound nicely.

 

[Hushpuppy]

Man at 470ppm, I would think you could just about see the calcium in the water. Thats not hard water, that is sediment solution

 

[Vegas Kid]

What isn't calcium is magnesium. 490 this afternoon, Genuine Colorado River water.
Playing with the calcium was a little reckless, but the cheap skate in me was tired of adding all the ph UP that dry GH nutes require.

 

[Hushpuppy]

If the calcium wasn't so high in it, it would be worth using it in diluted fform with distilled or RO water, but you would have to continually have to play with the numbers iff it changes naturally. I wonder if you were to make a very large sand filter, would it filter out some or most of the calcium? Sand filters work pretty good for removing even some of the finer materials. Or if there is a cheap binder chemical that would strip it out of larger barrels of water, where you could set up a 3 stage barrel system so that the bound up calcium would drop to the bottoms of the barrels at each stage and reduce it to acceptable/usable levels by the 3rd barrel, while the concentrated calcium is removed out the bottoms of the strainer barrels. I don't know if that would work or not, just brain storming

 

[Vegas Kid]

A repeated freeze-thaw cycle, like the 1.25 and 2.0 liter bottles in the hillbilly chiller, will cause mineral precipitation, unless those little white flakes are the bottle.

 

[zem]

people in some coastal areas have water wells that give out salty water with ppm more than 5000ppm. i have seen wells with 600ppm. however, i never saw tap water at 470ppm

 

[Dr. Green Fang]

I'm at 33 ppm, mountain water.

*runs out of thread*

 

[Vegas Kid]

Come to Vegas, bring your meter and your money. 2014 Water quality report attached, by your reactions I was wondering if my meter was bad, no such luck. My meter was 100 points lower than their report
left collum near the bottom

View attachment wq_summary_lvvwd-page-001.jpg

 

[Wetdog]

I'm at 33 ppm, mountain water.

*runs out of thread*

Just a bit under @26ppm here. Yep, mountain water, from the ones that 'smoke'.

Wet

 

[rickyjack9]

Portland Oregon water is around 6 to 8 ppm. best around the northwest.
also weed prices will go down eventually when the newness wears off and growers keep
growing. neat and great hobby. that's the way to get the price down.
us Oregonians are unique. NO SALES TAX, ever, so R's get out (that's u Koch dirty dollars)
Oregon is blue so don't talk purple. we are GREEN in mind and soul. go Ducks.