Something I just heard that makes a lot of sense. In nature a seed falls from a plant and germinates and grows in the same soil as the parent plant. Same nutrients. No more, no less.
I think my soil should be toned down a little for my adult plants.
If I get seeds to germinate in my mix It should be good for the adults.
Some nutrients can be used as needed. Any thoughts?
@Dsull588 @1HappyPappy join the fun. Learn together.
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This is basically the method i use. .
Im a big fan of h2o2 and its a lot safer then most think as well as many benefits all the way through harvest at different concentrations.
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Debacco, thatās my man! I have an Iron and hydrogen sulfide filter that backwashes with a few ounces of 35% peroxide much like a water softener. The morning after a backwash the water is cloudy and slowly turns clear. Itās good to know that a bit of peroxide is actually good for my seedlings. Thanks for joining in. If anyone is keeping a journal, please tag me in. I promise not to reply with personal stories to fill up your journal. Science and gardening questions and comments only. The rest of the forum is a better place to socialize. Good growing.
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Absolutely no reason to use distilled or demineralized water.
I would argue that not all well water is the same, without softening the hell out of my well water itās literally visibly orange and has so much calcium in it as well that it leaves a white residue on everything it touches and there is a visible layer of sediment after it sits for any length of timeā¦ I love well water, grew up on it, but without softening the heck out of my current well water and running it through at least a sediment filter, I wonāt even drink it or use it for cooking myself even though the ācontaminantsā are actually perfectly fineā¦ RO water is used for basically everything at my house outside of washing and showering.
That said, could I use it for germination, yeah probably, will I when I have over 75 gallons of RO on tap, nah.
Not in the US, there are actually codified labeling requirements for āpurified waterā where it gets crazy is when itās not labeled purified/distilled but something else like āspring waterā or ādrinking waterā or just generic bottled whatever, then itās basically anything goes as long as itās up to the same regulations that are in place for tap water. As growers we should all have PPM meters anyway, test your water, I have personally never seen a store-bought clearly labeled āpurified waterā higher than 2ppm but if Iām buying it I always just go for distilled.
I should have said āBottled water labels can be deceiving.ā You guys are both right. I should be looking for a quality PH meter too. Home Depot never sends back the free water test. Thats why Iām doing this experiment. So far, my seeds are doing the best in my well water and plain soil. Should the well break or run dry my next best bet looks like Evian, in my case. In an extreme case I could use Pelligrino and not kill them. I donāt know yet the experiment is not over. They could still die if that is all they get. Stay tuned.
Disclaimer! - I am not a scientist. Iām on my second indoor grow. This experiment is for entertainment purposes only. Any conclusions are purely speculative. Do your own soil test if you intend to use any bottled water. (I smoke weed 
). If you kill your plants because you relied on my skills, thatās on you.
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DAY 4 - Some surprising observations.
My well water and plain mix is better than my well water and my soil mixed with nutrients.
Desani slow to start, very healthy now.
I thought a high PH 9.5 + would have produced poor results. They look pretty healthy.
Evian is a good choice in my case. They look strong and healthy.
The one that surprises me, Pelligrino. they are not too bad. In an emergency, any port in a storm will do.
My well water was fine in plain mix. My amended soil mix is too strong for seedlings. If I want to sow seeds directly, Iāll need to tone it down a bit.
To sum it up so far. For me, well water and plain mix worked the best. Next best choice for me, Evian then Dassani. My third choice, and a surprise to me is 9.5+ Life Water. I chose Pelligrino just for fun and Iām surprised it didnāt kill them right away. āSurpriseā the word of the day. Thatās science.
Any Thoughts?
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I found some research that supports your practice of directly sowing your seeds. From Master Gardeners with PHDās. Hereās a few ideas that make sense to me.
In nature plants drop their seeds on the ground. The seeds that are not spread by animals or insects germinate, grow and reproduce in the same soil as the parent plant. The seed has everything it needs to establish a root system and seek out water and the parent plants microbiome. The microbiome takes a long time to develop and without it no plant can live. In pots we need to maintain a good microbiome environment. We feed the microbes nutrients and they feed the plant and the plant feeds them. (I wish people were more like plants). I found this interesting. Helpful?
Thanks @Gooch99 I think youre helping me realize there are many good waters to use but a few bad ones. Still blaming my softened otherwise untreated water for a failures. Iām having better āluckā with the brita filter. Radish at 100% with filtered, started few days ago.
Cool! I was hoping to get some data from other growers. Every well is different and
I would guess that water that is municipal sourced then filtered will be different depending on where you live. Cheap veggie seeds can tell you a lot about your soil and water without PH test. A beginner like me, might not have the skills to do a PH test accurately. Seeds never lie. Beans, radishes, and sunflowers are cheap and grow fast. Iāll need to ph my soil if I want to add nutrients somewhere down the line. A quality meter is a must for that. For now keep growing and learning. Thanks again for the feedback.
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soil temperature charts out there, for germination etc. easy googl search and might add some fine tuning to it
Gotcha, I started seeds in the same place as I did in the summer and not much happened until I moved the seeds into the grow room. I used the paper towel method because I was having some problems with germination. I put the baggie on top of the 5x5 for warmth and the next day I had 100% germination.
Temperature is key.
I put a chart on the grow room wall with temperature and humidity ranges for all stages of the plantās life cycle. I donāt have a PAR meter yet so Iām going by the manufacturerās recommended distance and intensity. That information is on the chart as well. Itās hard to keep track of so many new things to do, so I write them down and follow my notes. The Mars hydro light is a little too intense to turn up to 100% in my case. If I use CO2 someday Iāll crank everything up.
@YinYang @Cannabian @beardless I think I tagged you. @mingleme @Shyguy420 @Davyg @Skydiver @Drinkslinger Hello. Start at the top to get a better idea whatās going on. I hope youāre still around.
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???relevance??? I appreciate the Ph chart. It works for most plants.
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either a comment about expensive stuff needing the maintenance, or taking a shot at the āexceptionalismā of high end stuff? Like we who work on toys say, no matter how many cylinders injected or not turbo fiber reeds whatever itās all junk when it breaks 
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a 5000 lb paper weight. I fall for the medium size popcorn trick every time. Cheap no good. Expensive is great but too expensive. Upper middle quality suits me fine. As long as can understand the poorly translated into English instructions. āKeep knife and other sharp parts out of childrenā.
I think my well water is fine as far as PH and germination. My soil is a bit out of whack. A soil probes a good investment for me.
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An Iron filter/ aeration filter installed before my softener removes the Iron oxide and hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg smell). Then the water passes through the softener and a whole house filter. When I moved in, I sanitized the plumbing system with chlorine bleach. An easy task but it takes a day or two to get the best results. The house was unoccupied. Good water now. I have to change a few filters from time to time but there pretty cheap. worth it.
An Iron filter/ aeration filter installed before my softener removes the Iron oxide and hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg smell).
I only soften the hot water, when the water softener is cranked up the hot well water or mixed hot/cold isnāt all that bad, but still not great. I certainly could invest in more filters, but I have no real reason to invest that money, plus I rent, if I wanted to upgrade the entire system the landlord wouldnāt care, but he isnāt going to pay for it, he actually touched upon this when we signed the lease as previous renters complained about the water, having grown up in a farmhouse no biggy for me I knew what to expect. I do have a 100GPD RO system hooked up to not only a 5 gallon pressurized tank (used for fridge ice maker) but it also overflows into a 55 gallon drum, I pull off 5 gallon water bottles/jugs for cooking and drinking water in the kitchen off that 55 gallon drump as needed, and for watering indoor plants and for aquarium use I also pull off the 55 gallon drum. I live on a farm (all water is pulled off the house well) we use a lot of water, conditioning or filtering all that when itās really not needed would be cost-prohibitiveā¦