Las Vegas Hard Water

Basic Growing Info
#1

Hey Guys!

Title says it all, lol.
Im in Las Vegas, North Las Vegas in particular. Water coming off faucet is 350ppm roughly.

Im in the beginning of my second grow. First grow was all RO water from a portable unit (basically a nightmare). This grow is same so far.

All told, I pulled just over 1 pound dry from my 2x4. Very happy with results and the 4 strains all taste great!

What would the super-duper hard water of Las Vegas do to my grow? RO is a MAJOR hassle. What if any affect would the hard water have compared to RO?

Anyone have any real-world, comparative info? It would make things so much easier to use tap water in my grow, but I dont want to give up the quality.

Could this high PPM mess with mineral levels? Using Athena Blended nutes.

Thanks!

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#2

When I lived in North Las Vegas, the water was so bad that if I drank it out of the tap, it would make me nauseous. It is the desert full of heavy metals and all kinds of shit. If I won’t drink it then neither will my plants.

My setup is reverse osmosis filter inside of my fridge. Water softener + RO would be best. or just use distilled water or spring water bought by the gallon. In a 2x4 you can’t possibly use enough water for it to be cumbersome.

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#3

I’m not in Vegas, so this may not be as good an option as what CocoaCoir said,
but outside of some supermarkets there are “filtered” water vending machines for $0.30 - 0.50 per gallon. Cheaper than buying new water gallons from inside the store.
Reuse your own plastic gallon bottles. I did that for a couple years, then i got a Brita water pitcher w disposable filters. But i have much smaller plants than you so don’t need much clean water.

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#4

Just start your nutrients low and bump 20% every feeding and count your 350PPM in your total reading. So If you want nutrient feed at 700PPM add 350PPM to your 350PPM tap. I would be more concerned with just letting it sit for a couple hours for the chems to evap. I lived in FL super hard water. You can grow with that water.

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#5

I’ve heard a good way to test what hard water does to the crops is by cutting off a piece of stalk after harvest, throwing it in the microwave, and microwaving for a minute. If popping occurs a few seconds in, then that’s all the metals that remained in the stalk going crazy. These metals end up in your bud as well.

Never tried microwaving my stalk, but I did switch to RO due to the accumulation of metal deposis that covered my tent due to the humidifier evaporating the liquid.

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#6

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#7

Ive tested PPM both right after getting cold water from faucet, then letting it wait 24hrs to flash off the Chlorine. Even then,its still well over 300 PPM.

I may try a tap water grow soon. See what happens. May still flourish in the Octopots…

Or do two “Identical” clones each in its own Octopot and see how things work out. Each side of my 2x4 tent.
One in RO water.
One in Las Vegas’s Finest.

See who “Taps Out”, lol.

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#8

Letting it sit out isn’t going to change the PPM. Just evap all the chemicals in the water. Leave it out in an open container.

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#9

It also doesnt work on chloramine, only chlorine.

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#10

Maybe thats why I grew “Atomic” buds on my last and only grow, lol!
They sure do hit well

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#11

Straight tap will work just fine. Just adjust your nutrients with your 350 tap PPM in mind. Our water they use Cloramine and not chlorine. I use it straight up.

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#12

Youd be surprised. With five 5-gallon plants, I was giving about 5 gallons every 2-3 days in flower. That adds up.

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#13

Pretty much the only thing that will evaporate out overnight is the Chlorine. Although that is a bad one.

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#14

Sorry to bother you all.I add to the Quest of very hard tap.I Ve been diluting My tap with RO. My tap comes out at 300 ppm,mostly calcium and Magnesium carbonates and Ca+ and Mg+ about 50 and 30 ppms respectively.I had pretty bad grows under my very hard water.How could I keep in mind the tap ppms if my autos require 0.5 EC in Coco coir?

#15

You do it baby bumping your nutrients every feeding. Don’t just jump to your EC.

2 Likes
#16

Hey there neighbor :wave:
I’m in Las Vegas and for the first time ever on my grow I am not using a RO system like I always have.
I’m trying this grow out to see if I see a difference and honestly I’m not seeing a difference so far.
I am about to flip my plants to flower in about a week or so so let’s see what happens during that faze.
But so far so good.
I am using a filter that goes on the end of a water hose just to clean the water up a bit.
My ppms are at 440 yikes

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#17

Hey Toker!

Ive seen those. How well is it working? What level does it bring your PPM down to?

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#18

Honestly I have not even checked.
I will check today or tomorrow and will give you some numbers.
But I don’t think it drops the ppm though at all.
I will keep you posted

#19

Any citation to this being legit other than bro science?

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#20

is the 440 ppms before or after the filter?