Because of the coronavirus I can’t find distilled water anywhere. Always sold out. They’re telling me I might not see any for months. What would happen if I used lake Michigan tap water? I know it has chlorine and fluoride but otherwise it’s great drinking water. I’m ready to start a new grow indoors soon. If I use tap and PH it would that affect my plants growth? Anyone have any ideas?
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Check the PPM and leave it out for 24 hours to let chlorine off-gas.
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I agree. I use a 50/50 tap and ro for my seedlings. Our tap starts at 535ppm. So needs cut. I did my first grow with straight tap and it started fine. If I use ro or distilled water. I always add cal mag as it will steal it from your plant. If your tap ppms are under 250. I would just let it set out for a day. As long as you know your city uses chlorine and not chloramine. Just my 02
You could consider buying an RO system for about $60 you can have all the water needed from your tap just with 95% of things filtered out.
Simple hook up using an existing faucet end or you can tie into a cold water line.
I did my first grow entirely with my tap water and it worked but I also let it sit overnight in bucket to off gas chlorine or if needed quicker used an air pump and air stone and bubbled it off as it doesn’t take but a couple hours. You can use your tap it’s just that using RO or distilled allows you total control of what nutrients go into the soil.
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Also do the math…distilled water a gallon is what $1 or so plus all the freakin plastic that goes in the trash…polluting Mother Earth …ya know plastic made from oil.
The RO unit will produce a thousand gallons before you need to replace filters saving you money in the long run and not using as much oil plastics that go to landfills etc.
I hate plastic and avoid using it when possible.
Plastic has its place just not everyplace
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I like that idea. Looks like a good investment. Thanks for your input!
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I’m in michigan. Tap is fine. I just buy a bottle of mineral water that is not ph’d at the gas station. To start the seeds.
As for the chlorine I sit a 5 gal bucket of water out for 24hrs to eliminate chlorine when I started growing. Now I just use a air pump and 2 air stones. Bubbles chlorine out in 30min per 5 gal pail.
I am in Dearborn heights so south east michigan tap water. It comes out usually around ph of 7.5-8.5
I ph to 5.8 for hydro
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That’s good news.
I have the same water supply.
Thank you for the help!
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You can use distilled water in the aquarium in a number of situations: First, when the water in the tank evaporates, the minerals will stay. You can increase the amount of water by replacing the evaporated water with distilled water. You can also use distilled water to lower the pH in the tank. This also reduces the carbon hardness of the water. Additionally, when the distilled water is remineralized, you can use distilled water to replace all the water in the aquarium.