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shopping Reverse osmosis, when is it worth it to buy?

Hi all, 
 
I have been considering buying a system for reverse osmosis. I figured, I have used so many money on this hobby, so it seems strange to cheap out on the most basic ingredient for plants - water. 
 
I measured my tap water to be around 272 ppm. So my question is, would I see any benefit for my plants? 
 
Bonus question, if I go ahead and buy it, would I need to change my flora micro (hard water) to the softwater variant? 
 
It would probably be good for you but I don't know why it would be good for your plants unless you have contaminants that aren't good for them. RO simply strips everything from the water. Minerals and all.
 
We've used RO water for drinking and cooking since the 80's but I've never fed it to plants. Didn't see any point in it.
 
The RO water is definitely good for gaining an extra layer of control, if you're doing hydro.    The idea being that you don't use any of your valuable quota of total dissolved solids (TDS) in the base water, or to further ensure that you don't have any significant percentage of any contaminants, or other elements that might lessen the effectiveness of your feeding regimen.
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Either you are looking at this from a business standpoint, or you're looking at it from a love of the hobby standpoint.  One is logical, the other is alogical.  So whether or not it "makes sense" to buy, is completely at your discretion.  There are many things that don't make sense to do from a logical point of view, but we do them just for the sake of happiness. What's important to you?
 
solid7 said:
The RO water is definitely good for gaining an extra layer of control, if you're doing hydro.    The idea being that you don't use any of your valuable quota of total dissolved solids (TDS) in the base water, or to further ensure that you don't have any significant percentage of any contaminants, or other elements that might lessen the effectiveness of your feeding regimen.
.
Either you are looking at this from a business standpoint, or you're looking at it from a love of the hobby standpoint.  One is logical, the other is alogical.  So whether or not it "makes sense" to buy, is completely at your discretion.  There are many things that don't make sense to do from a logical point of view, but we do them just for the sake of happiness. What's important to you?
 
My question was more if I could benefit with my tap water being 272 ppm, as if the reduction with RO water would be good enough.
However, as I read your post I decided I wanted to test it out, so I ordered a filter! Thanks for your reply!  
 
Mildfruit said:
 
My question was more if I could benefit with my tap water being 272 ppm, as if the reduction with RO water we be good enough.
However, as I read your post I decided I wanted to test it out, so I ordered a filter! Thanks for your reply!  
 
 
Which filter did you order?
 
Very interesting!
 
I could not open that link. 
What are the costs involved?
 
Are there anybody around here using RO for irrigation.?
 
karoo said:
Very interesting!
 
I could not open that link. 
What are the costs involved?
 
Are there anybody around here using RO for irrigation.?
Fixed the link, it should work now :)
Roughly 63$ for that model 
 
I have thought about it but not really worth the hassle for me as our tap water in almost all of Finland is already quite soft at 0.1-0.3 EC (50-150 PPM). We typically need to use CalMag to raise the EC up to an acceptable level (0.45 or so) so that nutrients are most effective.
 
We don't get calcium deposits on appliances, itchy skin after showers, etc...
 
Now, if I were growing weed or shrooms then I'd probably buy an RO setup and go all Walter White and stuff. I'm personally more interested in that filter for human consumption cases next time some idiot accidentally connects a sewage drain pipe into the public water supply (it has happened here).
 
podz said:
We don't get calcium deposits on appliances, itchy skin after showers, etc...
 
And here I have to remove calcium deposits in the shower, and kitchen appliances once every few months  :confused:  ;)
But it sounds like it properly won't be very useful for you, with water so soft. I do apply my nutrients with cal,mag but still have calcium deficiencies when I forget to also use 1% calcium-nitrate foliar spray... Hope I can fix that soon! 
 
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