Question .

[FloralJem]

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[Colamaker]

Any suggestions on using rain water for watering?
I have measured 6,5 ph but I have no idea about pros and cons of using rain water. Do you think it is ok to use for germinating?

I used 100% snow water and rain water on my last grow. There are alot of benefits with natural nutrient water. I use all well water and rain in summer.

 

[cheesewhiz]

It is better than my city water – my city water has a lot of chlorine in it. That can kill off the microbes in your soil.

 

[Colamaker]

Also only use outside pump well water. Never use softener well water. It will kill your plants.

 

[Colamaker]

When you live with well water you have a softener in the house that the well water goes through then goes to your faucets. The softener is filled with salt. Even though your not drinking salt water there are traces of salt in the water and it filters the calcium iron all the earth nuts. To make safer to drink. It didn't hit me until my 1 grow was just awful. Then I figured the only thing I did different was use the facets in the house. So I looked it up and sure enough it's bad to water plants with softened water.

 

[Colamaker]

I always keep ph same. Especially during the plants last moments of life. Don't piss off the plant at the end lol

 

[Alphatoy]

I am not sure what you mean with " softener well water" but if you are pointing a high ph like 9-10, imho it wont kill the plant but will stop it reaching some crutual material or enzym some of them less, as far as I know.

you really need to get that ph down to a 6.5 a 7.0 or higher is to high of a ph i myself use lake water that is in the low 6 i mix it with my 150 gal fish tank water that is just above 6.5 and it comes out at 6.5 or i just use ph upper fluid if i am lazy i sometimes use city water it runs at about 7.0 so i just lower it with General Hydroponics PH DOWN 1 drop to 1 gal

 

[cheesewhiz]

Sure, I never used grid water. But I know that many people use air motors to get rid of clorine or to raise the ph. Do you also use one?
There are several natural sources around my place and I have the water to use with the nutrients which is about 8-9 ph, but when germinating it's hard to find a water of 6,5 ph.
It seems rain will do it

I used to dechlorinate my water with a bucket and an air stone, leave that over night and you should be good. I herd that you can just leave it in a bucket for 24 hours ish and it will evaporate. but I'm not totally sure on that.

 

[mf1098]

you really need to get that ph down to a 6.5 a 7.0 or higher is to high of a ph i myself use lake water that is in the low 6 i mix it with my 150 gal fish tank water that is just above 6.5 and it comes out at 6.5 or i just use ph upper fluid if i am lazy i sometimes use city water it runs at about 7.0 so i just lower it with General Hydroponics PH DOWN 1 drop to 1 gal

I used 1 tsp of vinegar to lower my ph and I think it killed my plants. Who knew 1 drop would have done the job

 

[Ras Mountain]

I used to dechlorinate my water with a bucket and an air stone, leave that over night and you should be good. I herd that you can just leave it in a bucket for 24 hours ish and it will evaporate. but I'm not totally sure on that.

With chlorine, yes. 24-48 hours should purge it. Many areas have begun using chloramine, which does not easily evaporate from solution and must be filtered through carbon or by using RO.

I use rain as much as possible, especially for seed-starting.

Reverse Osmosis can work just as well if you want purity on tap. The last city I lived in had grid water with pH 8 and 150-200 ppm of solutes by the time it hit my pipes. After filtration it was pH 6 with <5 ppm and used only about a tsp of pH Up to buffer a 5 gallon bucket, since the bloom nutrients always tend to acidify the solution some.

 

[Canadan]

I use distilled water for seed starting and i have a UV light for my well that I use for the seedlings 6.5 PH and when they go outside rain water all the way till finished . If you are doing hydro then spring water is the best IMO. We did a comparison years ago when I was growing hydro I used spring water and my buddy was using city water my plants grew twice as good and better tasting than him both of us were doing hydro with the same setup so IMO stay away from city water especially if you have access to spring water

 

[Kristine_M]

Just saying It is best to use rain barrel water on ornamentals, trees, and lawns, but if you choose to use rain barrel water on your vegetable and fruit plants, the safest way to do it is by watering the soil and not the plant itself.

 

[Canadan]

If you are worried about your rain water test the PH level. I use rain water for all my vegetables and my cannabis plants. If you grow outside rain is your main watering source IMO. The only time I would be concerned is if you live by a smelter or coal mine than you would probably have high acid PH in your rain water

 

[Alphatoy]

If you are worried about your rain water test the PH level. I use rain water for all my vegetables and my cannabis plants. If you grow outside rain is your main watering source IMO. The only time I would be concerned is if you live by a smelter or coal mine than you would probably have high acid PH in your rain water

just a ( pon) do you have a spicket on that rain cloud so you can turn it off and on 365 days a year.

 

[Kristine_M]

Besides being natural, rainwater is usually soft, which makes it a good option for watering your flowers and plants. Actually, the absence of those very chemicals that make tap water safe for drinking makes rainwater a better choice for your outdoor watering needs. And I would like to recommend you this site hope this could help you with this.

 

[Sativa Kid]

I used to dechlorinate my water with a bucket and an air stone, leave that over night and you should be good. I herd that you can just leave it in a bucket for 24 hours ish and it will evaporate. but I'm not totally sure on that.

Chlorine is present in the gas form in your water. And you can smell it. Yes trained noses can smell and you can get it out easily and cheap in many ways. 1.Pass through a carbon filter slowly. 2. Evaporate by boiling or letting stand in a container. 3. Add bacteria or things that are alive. 4. Agitate or spray.
The best and cheapest is to agitate and let stand and when the smell is all gone add a drop of bacteria like fish fertilizer and let stand for another hour.

 

[Sativa Kid]

I used 100% snow water and rain water on my last grow. There are alot of benefits with natural nutrient water. I use all well water and rain in summer.

Snow water and rainwater are very pure with no minerals or salts. It's like using RO water, very clean but no nutrients. You have to add the nutrients. In production of some food and beverages they use RO Water because it's a constant with no minerals or nutrients. So now a beer recipe is the same everywhere as an example. Because pure water is pure water.

 

[Tracker]

I use ascorbic acid for pH down. It also helps with chlorine.

Vitamin C For Chlorine Removal – Using Ascorbic Acid For Chlorine Absorption

Chlorine and chloramines are chemicals added to the drinking water in many cities. It’s difficult if you don’t want to spray these chemicals on your plants since that’s what comes out of your tap. What can a gardener do? Click here to learn how Vitamin C can help.

www.gardeningknowhow.com

 

[Sativa Kid]

Chlorine is present in the gas form in your water. And you can smell it. Yes trained noses can smell and you can get it out easily and cheap in many ways. 1.Pass through a carbon filter slowly. 2. Evaporate by boiling or letting stand in a container. 3. Add bacteria or things that are alive. 4. Agitate or spray.
The best and cheapest is to agitate and let stand and when the smell is all gone add a drop of bacteria like fish fertilizer and let stand for another hour.

You right wizz with the airstone but the gas coming out in a pail/tank/bottle involves pail depth to width ratio and temperature. Usually 3-4 days, more or less on conditions. The airstone works by agitating the water per say but the uplifting air scrubbes the gas from the water. Anything that agitates the water in an fresh air headspace accelerates the removal of chlorine. Also find out if your city uses Chloramine it's worse to get out. Call your city and ask if they treat with chloramine.

 

[Sativa Kid]

Besides being natural, rainwater is usually soft, which makes it a good option for watering your flowers and plants. Actually, the absence of those very chemicals that make tap water safe for drinking makes rainwater a better choice for your outdoor watering needs. And I would like to recommend you this site hope this could help you with this.

Besides being natural, rainwater is usually soft, which makes it a good option for watering your flowers and plants. Actually, the absence of those very chemicals that make tap water safe for drinking makes rainwater a better choice for your outdoor watering needs. And I would like to recommend you this site hope this could help you with this.

Tell everyone about rainwater. I'm not in a position to use it but many are. I know soil recyclers like myself would love the zero salts aspect for sure.