Water question. First grow had some type of lockout. I also let the vpd get pretty high like 90° with 50% humidity. So idk if thay caused plant to uptack nutrients rapidly and thay caused the lockout or what. My question is I have hard well water like 600ppm from the well. I run it through a softener and then an ro system. The water softener takes the cal mag out of the water and replaces it with sodium from what I understand. After the ro system the water comes out at 40ppm and around 5.5 ph. It’s around 6.5 ph without the ro. Am I good to just keep up with adding calmag and bringing the ph up? Or is there something the softener salts are altering my feed and should I just try to grow with the hard water? Should I have the hard water tested right from the well and then just try to ammend that? Any info from growers with hard water appreciated.
To answer your questions(Mostly), Yes, you are. Btw I’m a novice grower but got the recitals, backing me up. Add calmag then ph correct it. And yes, you do want to amend. And yes, you should grow with the hard water, overall. Good, for the plants, but not for, you!..Thanks.
I recommend getting a water quality test so you can see exactly what is in your water. Both the well water that is 600ppm as well as the RO water showing 40ppm – if you can. Right now we can only guess what is in the water so giving you advice on what to use without knowing for sure could lead you to not good results.
That’s kinda what I was thinking. Even though it’s only 40ppm now from the RO depending what that 40ppm is could lead to something way down the road after it builds up. Going to get these samples over to logan labs. I will post the results here when I get them. Thanks man! I’ve literally listened 50+ of your podcasts so far! I’ve got some chill og to start for next run!
Your setup sounds a bit tricky! Since the water softener takes out calcium and magnesium and adds sodium, it could impact your plants. Using RO water with 40 ppm and adding cal-mag is a good idea, but testing your well water could help you understand its nutrient levels better. That way, you can choose whether to use the hard water or stick with your current system!
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