12-15-16....greetings...and word of the day

[Soilscience]

I use 50/50 backyard compost and commercial organic potting soil that I found in the shed. The potting soil is commercial compost, peat, and perlite with a tad of chicken feathers and manure. If I feel like they need a boost I'll make a chicken manure tea. This is what has led to a delay in harvest... Too much tea this time around. The excess N late in the grow retards ripening

For water, I run a dehumidifier and harvest distilled water from that. I don't feed in my water except maybe once or twice around week 3 or 4 of veg. Manure tea then.

I don't have a pH meter. Don't seem to need one with this much humus in the soil. Humus is a wonderful buffer. A lot of potting soils are high in organic matter, but not high in humus.
Nothing beats good compost.

I get a few gnats and weeds. They don't bother the girls.

[insomniaczzz]

Soilscience, I've been dumping my dehumidifier water which, in retrospect, does seem wasteful. Is it basically the same as RO water?

[Soilscience]

Basically pure distilled water
Let it set out in an open container do it can absorb some oxygen. I don't know for sure about this step, but having oxygen in the water is important.

[Karlee]

Insomn & Soilscience

Everything that I have read doesn't like using dehumidifier water for anything you eat (consume) not even to your pets. It's a gray water where toilet water is black it can have microorganisms and contaminants. It's not worth risking your health using that water.

[insomniaczzz]

Insomn & Soilscience

Everything that I have read doesn't like using dehumidifier water for anything you eat (consume) not even to your pets. It's a gray water where toilet water is black it can have microorganisms and contaminants. It's not worth risking your health using that water.

Karlee I see your point, especially if the water is more than one day old.

[Soilscience]

Karlee, I understand that there's a lot of mistrust in our environment. Im not surprised that there are warnings about this. I even just looked up on the Internet. Most of the warnings are about microbes.
Microorganisms from distilled water will gain no foothold in an active living soil. Microorganisms are very environment specific. If the water picks up a plant disease, it could affect the plants, but this is extremely unlikely as the organism that would affect a plant has no reason to be in the water, or survive there.
Organisms that could be harmful to humans may exist in the water for a short time, but the issue is really with the tank and the collection surface. But even if the water manages to become contaminated, it will have no mechanism to transfer to the upper part of the plant except through splashing.
The only actual concern might be small amounts of metals leached from the coil. We're all drinking water that has traveled through miles of said pipe.
So why all the warnings? Because someone, or many someones got sick after drinking some contaminated water that came from a dehumidifier tank. Tank is probably the key word here. Depending upon the environment that the equipment is operating in, there might be a buildup of microbe food on the coil, and in the plumbing and tank.
It is always best to heed warnings. So I can't recommend that anyone use this source for drinking water. However, most modern dehumidifiers have a direct drain option, and if the flow is kept fresh and clean, the water should be fine for watering plants.

[Green75]

My wife uses dehu water to water house plants...they love it...

Used coffee grounds as well