water Distilled water for DWC?? advice needed please

[Ducman748]

Hi everybody, I am new to the site and new to DWC. I have grown many super hots over the years in soil and am now looking forward to the challenge of trying a DWC. That being said I have a few questions for the group, keep in mind I have read info on many websites for this but I still would appreciate some input.
 
1) I have no water filters so I bought a bunch of distilled water (I also grow carnivorous plants as well so it can be used for them also) to start with, I have no nutrients purchased yet. Reviewing General Hydroponics nutrients I see they offer a hardwater version, how do I know if I have hard water besides not being hooked up to a water softner??
 
2) Do you recommend purchasing PH up and PH down when I purchase the nutrients?? I know, silly question but I am about to drop 80$ on nutrients and the PH up and down will add another 40$ to that and at this point I am still not really sure what I am getting into here.....
 
3) Any suggestions from the group as far a what nutrients to purchase for a beginner. 
 
4) what is the average amount of time before changing out the nutrient solution once a plant has been introduced??
 
 
I already have a 5 gallon bucket, 6" net pot, air pump, air stone and the tubing.... I even have an orange habanero seedling ready to go and I am planning on doing a ghost in a DWC if I can get this figured out.....
 
 
 
 
thanks for the reply.
Ducman

 

[juanitos]

1. are you on city water? they should have a water test / report that should tell you info about your water. you don't have to do distilled / reverse osmosis for dwc peppers. It's a "that's nice" but not necessary thing(primarily suggested by weed growers)
 
2. a little ph down is all i needed. you can use acetic acid (vinegar) if you want a cheapo way to start out. or just don't buy it at first only get it if you see problems.
 
3. lucas formula  only uses 2 bottles so it's cheaper. OR dynagro foliage pro is 1 bottle, really hard to screw up  
 
4. once a month ish for me.

 

[Ducman748]

We are on city water. 
 
 
I will bring your list of suggested nutrients with me tonight to the shop and see what they have in stock... easy is good, trust me Im all about easy... 
 
Once I have the seedling transfered from soil to the DWC how long would it be until is see somekind of result??  a couple of days maybe??
 
 
 
thanks for the feedback juanitos... i appreciate it....

 

[Ducman748]

also forgot, 
 
how do you know when its time to change the nutrients... is it more of a refill or do you start the mix from scratch??   Again I know everybody is different so I am just looking for suggestions....

 

[Ducman748]

the lucas formula link is great reading for sure!!

 

[solid7]

1. are you on city water? they should have a water test / report that should tell you info about your water. you don't have to do distilled / reverse osmosis for dwc peppers. It's a "that's nice" but not necessary thing(primarily suggested by weed growers)
 

 

I don't like the fact that I disagree with you on this point, as your growing speaks for itself...  However, I did notice a humongous difference in nutrient solution stability with RO water (preferred) and distilled water. (if you can't do RO)  Before I switched to RO, I had some real difficulty with stabilizing PH, and unknown pathogens. (mold and fungus)  Afterwards, not so much.  I don't grow weed, but I strongly recommend RO water, as it helps eliminate extra variables.

 

[Ducman748]

I have lots of distilled water so I am going to start with that initially and go from there. Thank you all for your feedback it is greatly appreciated.

 

[hogleg]

 
I don't like the fact that I disagree with you on this point, as your growing speaks for itself...  However, I did notice a humongous difference in nutrient solution stability with RO water (preferred) and distilled water. (if you can't do RO)  Before I switched to RO, I had some real difficulty with stabilizing PH, and unknown pathogens. (mold and fungus)  Afterwards, not so much.  I don't grow weed, but I strongly recommend RO water, as it helps eliminate extra variables.

 
Have you ever tried to set ph on pure distilled water? 

 

[solid7]

 
Have you ever tried to set ph on pure distilled water? 

 
I would have to say yes to that, as it's the recommended medium for calibration of PH test equipment.
.
If you're going to suggest PH drift, yes, it happens.  But not nearly as bad as water than already contains dissolved solids. 

 

[hogleg]

 
I would have to say yes to that, as it's the recommended medium for calibration of PH test equipment.
.
If you're going to suggest PH drift, yes, it happens.  But not nearly as bad as water than already contains dissolved solids. 

 
I imagine you thought that question was asked with snarkiness, It wasn't it was genuine. Personally I find the use of distilled water for any grow application silly.

 

[solid7]

 
I imagine you thought that question was asked with snarkiness, It wasn't it was genuine. Personally I find the use of distilled water for any grow application silly.

 
No, not at all, I didn't take it that way.  I just actually posted an answer to one of your other posts in a similar question.  I definitely think that anybody who is doing hydro needs to know this, before undertaking the experiment at best, and before giving up, at worst.
 
Distilled water that has not been PH adjusted drifts, due to low ion count, which increased electrical resistance.  It's not as problematic once you've adjusted and buffered.  However, the problem with tap and well water - and even rain water, in some cases - is that it's difficult to keep it buffered, due to whatever particulate it may contain.

 

[The_NorthEast_ChileMan]

However, the problem with tap and well water - and even rain water, in some cases - is that it's difficult to keep it buffered, due to whatever particulate it may contain.

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On my first DWC I used rain water, Dyna-Gro and pH balanced with General Hydroponics GH1514 kit, see below. What's "keep it buffered" and what effect does it have if not?
 

EDIT: Found a pic from later in the season.....



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[juanitos]

 
I don't like the fact that I disagree with you on this point, as your growing speaks for itself...  However, I did notice a humongous difference in nutrient solution stability with RO water (preferred) and distilled water. (if you can't do RO)  Before I switched to RO, I had some real difficulty with stabilizing PH, and unknown pathogens. (mold and fungus)  Afterwards, not so much.  I don't grow weed, but I strongly recommend RO water, as it helps eliminate extra variables.

i agree it's better. like if i already had a large ro system i would use it.
 
but i'm kinda lazy so i keep using city water and amending/buffering every once a week as needed.
I was just trying to say ro water is not required especially if he is a noob and trying to keep it simple / cheap.

 

[solid7]

`
What's "keep it buffered" and what effect does it have if not?
 

 
Some nutrients or PH solutions have "floating" buffers, such that when the PH begins to fall they start to react to the change, and dynamically adjust the PH back to the original range/value.  Since decaying matter tends to be acidic - and since even things in your tap water can decay - the buffer is typically a basic material. (it's pretty rare for a PH to swing higher, unless you started with water that was very alkaline, to begin with)
.
Calcium is a buffer, for example. Since it's not soluble, It doesn't contribute to the a PH change, until it's acted upon by an acid.  The process of neutralization is just alkalinity buffering acidity.

 

[Powelly]

I don't really know anything about hydroponics however my job is recognising patterns so I'm very good at it 
There has been a large number of posts on this forum where people test the pH of the water that goes in, gets runoff and the soil 
 
The general theme is that pH balancing water does little to nothing and in soil doesn't really make any changes to the soil pH 
When I google "pH buffering" my bullshit meter goes crazy

 

[solid7]

I don't really know anything about hydroponics however my job is recognising patterns so I'm very good at it 
There has been a large number of posts on this forum where people test the pH of the water that goes in, gets runoff and the soil 
 
The general theme is that pH balancing water does little to nothing and in soil doesn't really make any changes to the soil pH 
When I google "pH buffering" my bullshit meter goes crazy

 
 
Well, detective, you can put your bullshit meter away, because this is a hydro thread, and PH balancing/buffering is not that difficult to grasp.  I don't know what marketing schemes there are to portray it, but I laid it out in layman's terms.  There's nothing magical about it.  It's the exact same reason why you put dolomitic lime in peat moss.

 

[Ducman748]

I never thought the original question would cause such a discussion. 
 
However, I appreciate the info and am moving forward with distilled water for now. I bought the general hydroponics nutrients and a ph lower as well. I washed out the clay balls (forget the real name) and they are soaking in a mixed batch of nutrients and water. I will be finishing the setup tonight after work and putting the bucket under my grow lights. I have backup plants going into our actual garden in a couple of weeks as well. 
 
 
Did I make mistakes... probably
will I learn from it.... hopefully
will I be making ghost pepper hot sauce by mid to late summer.... I really hope so.....

 

[solid7]

I never thought the original question would cause such a discussion. 
 
However, I appreciate the info and am moving forward with distilled water for now. I bought the general hydroponics nutrients and a ph lower as well. I washed out the clay balls (forget the real name) and they are soaking in a mixed batch of nutrients and water. I will be finishing the setup tonight after work and putting the bucket under my grow lights. I have backup plants going into our actual garden in a couple of weeks as well. 
 
 
Did I make mistakes... probably
will I learn from it.... hopefully
will I be making ghost pepper hot sauce by mid to late summer.... I really hope so.....

 

There is nothing wrong with generating discussion. That multiple people weigh in, means that you get to benefit from multiple viewpoints.  Ultimately, you'll decide which you thing is right, and you'll make a choice that will either work, or not.
.
Best of luck to you on your grow.  Post updates!

 

[Powelly]

 
 
Well, detective, you can put your bullshit meter away, because this is a hydro thread, and PH balancing/buffering is not that difficult to grasp.  I don't know what marketing schemes there are to portray it, but I laid it out in layman's terms.  There's nothing magical about it.  It's the exact same reason why you put dolomitic lime in peat moss.

 
Difficult or not to grasp there are countless examples of people on here not having to do it

 

[solid7]

 
Difficult or not to grasp there are countless examples of people on here not having to do it

 
You don't really get a say in the matter, most cases.  Again, dolomitic lime.  You add some to adjust the PH initially, but does it make your entire container go basic, if you add a little too much?  No, it does not.  But if the PH falls, and there is still lime to react with, that's exactly what it does.

That's a buffer.  Now stop being difficult.