COCO COIR Distilled water required supplements

[JCD]

Hi all, I wish to use distilled water to water my plants. I have a tent, coco soil, LED light and proper humidity and temp control. Do i need to add any minerals to the distilled water? The tap water here has PH of 9. I can correct by adding 1,25 ml of vinegar which turns 2L of water to PH 6.0. I would like to improve water quality using Distilled Water. I am afraid that distilled water might be short of some crucial minerals and I am asking this community for advise: should I add minerals to the water for proper growth. Of course I am using a three part nutriment supplement to the water, but is this enough or should I get some sort of mineral supplements. Thanks! JC

 

[echdk3]

If growing in coco coir, you at the very least need cal-mag in addition to your nutrient trio. I don’t know what else you might need though, if you want to use distilled instead of tap.

 

[9fingerleafs]

What’s the ec of your tap water? You can assume it’s mostly calcium magnesium and sodium. Isnt destiled water super expensive? Can you get 5 gal plastic jugs of drinking water? Those are cheaper than small bottles and have only 25 ppm

 

[SoOrbudgal]

I agree with 9fingerleafs. I'd like to know what's coming out the tap ?

 

[dilvish]

watering with distilled water may be expensive in the long term depending on how many plants you grow. If you are trying for cleaner water or just properly PH'd water why not just invest in a small bottle of PH Down? It's not expensive and will last for quite a few waterings because you typically use 5ml (1/4 tsp) or less at a time.

If your concern is chlorine in the water just fill a gallon jug or pail and leave the lid off for a day. the chlorine will dissipate by that time. tap water also contains trace minerals but if using coir you should also get a good CalMag supplement (try the General Hydroponics brand).

If you got all the other equipment, why not get the above mentioned ones as well? Your plants will grow better if you are better prepared.

 

[gbauto]

Hi all, I wish to use distilled water to water my plants. I have a tent, coco soil, LED light and proper humidity and temp control. Do i need to add any minerals to the distilled water? The tap water here has PH of 9. I can correct by adding 1,25 ml of vinegar which turns 2L of water to PH 6.0. I would like to improve water quality using Distilled Water. I am afraid that distilled water might be short of some crucial minerals and I am asking this community for advise: should I add minerals to the water for proper growth. Of course I am using a three part nutriment supplement to the water, but is this enough or should I get some sort of mineral supplements. Thanks! JC

Sounds like you're almost there. Have you purchased any nutrients yet?
Coco is an inert media and requires feeding from the get-go.
A ph pen and an ec meter are also required to monitor your feed solution.
Invest in some proper ph adjustment additives-they are much better suited to the job.
I just use potassium carbonate to make ph up and phosphoric acid for ph down,
Aside from the expense, distilled water can be difficult to ph properly because it doesn't have anything dissolved in it.
I agree with the other suggestions, test your tap to see what's in there.
If it's too chunky, I'd use ro water.

 

[JCD]

Unfortunately I don't know the ec of tap water here. I have a device that produced distilled water so cost is not an issue.

 

[JCD]

OK thank you all. Seems distilled water is not a great solution. I will let my tap water sit for chlorine to go away. I get good control with vinegar to ph down. Cheers all!

 

[echdk3]

Keep in mind that while letting it sit will dissipate the chlorine, most tap water these days has chloramine instead, which will not dissipate, or at least it will do so at an extraordinarily slow rate. If you want to get rid of chloramine from your water, your best bet might be a filter. Cheers!