Grow Mediums chloramines

[Little Brother]

did some reading the other day. seems chloramines are pretty durn stable in water. starts as mono, can become somehow bi and trichloramine.
i used to bubble tap for a week or so, thinking it would get agitated out, but now i'm not so sure it matters. chloramine is way less effective of a sterilizing chemical compared to chlorine. i think they discovered that chlorine in say public pools, would cease to be present in an effective concentration after a few hours of hot sun.
i guess that's why the switch.
for the amateur, i think it won't matter enough to bother with trying to get rid of them. i personally can't tell much of a difference. roots seem fine, upper plants seems fine. the systems sold to filter them out are very expensive from my humble perspective. it may be required where you are from, but if you haven't tried it, it might not.
there are many probably who will make a good case for why they need to be removed. i don't argue with the chemistry, just that unless you can determine it to be beneficial, it may not be cost effective to try to remove them. if you have the money or just like to mess with stuff, go ahead. if you just want to grow your own smoke cheaply, i'm pretty sure you really don't have to do or buy much.

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

did some reading the other day. seems chloramines are pretty durn stable in water. starts as mono, can become somehow bi and trichloramine.
i used to bubble tap for a week or so, thinking it would get agitated out, but now i'm not so sure it matters. chloramine is way less effective of a sterilizing chemical compared to chlorine. i think they discovered that chlorine in say public pools, would cease to be present in an effective concentration after a few hours of hot sun.
i guess that's why the switch.
for the amateur, i think it won't matter enough to bother with trying to get rid of them. i personally can't tell much of a difference. roots seem fine, upper plants seems fine. the systems sold to filter them out are very expensive from my humble perspective. it may be required where you are from, but if you haven't tried it, it might not.
there are many probably who will make a good case for why they need to be removed. i don't argue with the chemistry, just that unless you can determine it to be beneficial, it may not be cost effective to try to remove them. if you have the money or just like to mess with stuff, go ahead. if you just want to grow your own smoke cheaply, i'm pretty sure you really don't have to do or buy much.

Chloramines is not much of a problem in soil. If I were growing TLO I would consider treating the water. It makes a difference in hydroponics. It is very easy to treat with ascorbic acid - vitamin C. The store brand is usually the cheapest without other stuff added in. 50mg per gallon will treat water with 3.8 PPM of chloramines.

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

what about the amonia leftover? i grow in dwc and i get pretty good yields. i was bubbling the water to remove but that don't really get rid of it from what i had read. so i believe i actually did nothing to the chloramines level of the water. this grow i haven't been bubbling the water beforehand. i haven't harvested yet, but the plant doesn't appear hampered in any way. i'm sure that it does make a difference but in my case i don't know that it does. i don't think it will mean the difference of ounces on a single plant. multiple plants? sure why not. i don't really know though. just kinda a feeling i have

Chloramines are formed by chlorine and ammonia. I do not know what is left behind after treating with ascorbic acid for sure but probably ammonia in a Nitrogen form. This is ok.

The reason we do not want chloramines in hydro is they kill bacteria - good and bad! The root biome in hydro is very localized to the roots and far more susceptible to damage than in soil.

 

[BallsackSal]

Chloramines are formed by chlorine and ammonia. I do not know what is left behind after treating with ascorbic acid for sure but probably ammonia in a Nitrogen form. This is ok.

The reason we do not want chloramines in hydro is they kill bacteria - good and bad! The root biome in hydro is very localized to the roots and far more susceptible to damage than in soil.

Do you use tap water that you treat with ascorbic acid or do you use an RO system. I use RO but it just seems kind of wasteful to me sometimes, if it weren't for the chlorine and chloramine I would feel ok using tap without the RO filtration and not have to buy cal/mag sups

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

Do you use tap water that you treat with ascorbic acid or do you use an RO system. I use RO but it just seems kind of wasteful to me sometimes, if it weren't for the chlorine and chloramine I would feel ok using tap without the RO filtration and not have to buy cal/mag sups

RO does not remove chloramines. A good carbon block filter will remove it and should be running in front of the RO membrane. It will ruin your membrane without the carbon filter.

It is simple to add ascorbic acid to treat for chloramines.

 

[BallsackSal]

RO does not remove chloramines. A good carbon block filter will remove it and should be running in front of the RO membrane. It will ruin your membrane without the carbon filter.

It is simple to add ascorbic acid to treat for chloramines.

I thought that was the main reason to use the RO system. Is chloramine measurable in PPM on a meter?

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

I thought that was the main reason to use the RO system. Is chloramine measurable in PPM on a meter?

No chloramines does not measure on an EC meter and even if it did it is minuscule in comparison with the minerals present. You need to check with your water vendor for a water quality report. The amount tested at the source will be the same coming out of your tap. It does not dissipate in the plumbing. That is why they use it. It is persistent.

The principal reason to use RO is to bring down the mineral content of the water.

 

[BallsackSal]

No chloramines does not measure on an EC meter and even if it did it is minuscule in comparison with the minerals present. You need to check with your water vendor for a water quality report. The amount tested at the source will be the same coming out of your tap. It does not dissipate in the plumbing. That is why they use it. It is persistent.

The principal reason to use RO is to bring down the mineral content of the water.

When you say RO does not remove chloramine, are speaking only of the RO membrane specifically or are you speaking of the whole standard 3-stage RO system (that includes a carbon filter, sediment filter and RO membrane) does NOT remove chloramine.

I'm starting to wonder if I have wasted a shit ton of hydroguard.

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

A catalytic carbon block filter is used in front of the RO membrane in an RO System to remove chloramines. The CCBF strips the chlorine and the RO membrane removes the ammonia.

I do not have chloramines in my source water just too much calcium when I get well water.

 

[BallsackSal]

You

You don't need to remove them. Do some looking around. There are hydro growers on afn and other prominent mj sites that add bleach to theiralready chlorinated/chloraminated water from the tap. You don't need to add ascorbic acid either. Look in the infirmary. There are no cases of failing plants due to chloramine.

I was aware that people run sterile systems and use choline for that aspect of it. I was going the other route with a non-sterile system and using hydroguard for root health. But I don't think the beneficial bacteria can survive with the chlorine/chloramine. So that leaves me wondering if buying this hydroguard is just pissing money down the toilet. In the 8 or so months since I have started this grow journey I have learned that there is an insane amount contradictory information out there about anything cannabis growing related.