Autumn is here and we start a new season of indoor growing. It’s time to prepare our grow room and review all the indispensable accessories to get the best results. A Water Filtration unit or Reverse Osmosis system is the first accessory you will need to get the best quality water for growing
As a house must be built with a good and strong foundation, you must also start with pure water to have a strong foundation for growth. A clean, free of chlorine and low EC water, is the right way to help our plants grow to their full potential. Just us we keep in mind the nutrients and fertilizers we are going to use, is also important prepare the water before we start to irrigate our plants.
Water quality control in indoor growing
With indoor growing we can control the light hours, the temperature and humidity in the room according with the plant’s needs and we can even control the water quality that we will use to irrigate them. There are different accessories for this that must be in our indoor room: the EC meter, for measuring the quantity of dissolved mineral salts are in the water (but which doesn’t tell us the quantity of each salt component), and a pH meter, very important to control the pH levels.
These water treatment systems and control accessories are very helpful for growing, because water is not the same everywhere. We can receive soft water (low EC) or hard water (high EC), according on the amount of mineral salts we have in our tap water. Hard water contains a high level of dissolved salts, that will directly influence the quantity of nutrients we need to add to the water we give to our plants.
-Keep in mind that our plants can receive an EC of up to 1,4 to 2,2, according to its genetics and depending on the growing stage. The higher the EC level is, less nutrients we can give to our plants. Here an example:
“If the water we use has an EC of 1,0 then we will only be able to add from 0,4 to 1,2 of nutrients to reach our maximum levels. If on the other hand, we start with an EC in the water of only 0,1 or 0,2 or even an EC of 0,0 then we will be able to add much more nutrients to our plants.”
– Less nutrients we can add, more risk for deficiencies in our plants, like deformed leaves or with yellow and brown spots because of a lack of calcium ; yellow leaves because of the lack of magnesium, among other problems.
-With a high EC level, the water will have high levels of calcium, and will cause lime scale in the roots, decreasing its absorption capability.
-If we irrigate with hard water and then we add even more nutrients to our soil, we can cause a nutrient lockout , that can inhibit the growth of our plants.
Reverse osmosis systems eliminate up to 95% of all dissolved salts, lowering the EC, getting pure water. They also eliminate heavy metals and chlorine up to 99%. Also, reverse osmosis helps to stabilize the pH, between 6 and 6,5.
“Using reverse osmosis you will get clean, pure, quality water for growing to the max indoors.”
However, even if the water from the tap doesn’t have high EC levels, chlorine will be the enemy, because as we all know, it is a chemical that attacks plants roots, burning them, while also killing off beneficial micro-organisms (link to the article) whom live in our fertilizers.
Water Filtration Systems are the solution to eliminate chlorine up to 99% and also reducing sediment, rust and oxidation. These systems also eliminate Herbicides, Pesticides and Volatile Organic Contaminants that also affects the plants.
In summary, if you are preparing your indoor room with indispensable accessories for the new growing season, remember to include a water treatment system (link). Together with the EC meter and pH meter, you will achieve clean, quality water that your plants deserve.
Grow it to the MAX this indoor season, with GrowMax Water!
