Was wondering thoughts on using well water on plants? I also have access to pond water as well. Will be using a soil/peat/perlite mix. I will be starting my first grow in next few weeks and trying to have everything planned out to the last detail before I start germination when seeds arrive. I will have my ph water tester tomorrow and can check levels then. Well is spring fed with no water softener.
Well Water
- Thread starter rlsachs2003
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I don't know much about ph or stuff to make it go up an down I grow organic an let the soil microbes regulate everything.I do know that well water works great in my situation an I imagine pond water would work great as well .
I do not have a ppm meter. Just a ph meter that will be here Friday. I do drink the water. It is not hard or discolored. I can have it tested by local company
Water my garden with it. Never had any issues. Only water source on property besides pond and used it for years
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RLS, you can't be sure unless you have a thorough water inspection done on your source well, but a good analysis is not cheap. Mine cost $60 over two years ago.
From a practical perspective, chances are your plant will be perfectly happy with well water. Especially since you indicated you do NOT have a water softener. That's important as most "hard" water is due to high amounts of calcium and magnesium in the water, which a softener removes. And calcium and magnesium BOTH are highly desirable needed elements for cannabis and most other plants as well.
There's one small risk, you indicated your well is naturally soft, so it may not have sufficient amounts of cal-mag. But if you learn to watch for deficiencies in these minerals you can safely move forward without it. Here's an excellent guide to plant deficiencies with lots of pictures: https://www.growweedeasy.com/calcium-deficiency-cannabis
I've grown from a well for many years with mostly great success. My water is naturally hard, around 360 - 400ppm, with plenty of cal-mag. When I did not use a softener my plants were fine but the wife was unhappy. Which meant a softener. Which meant I got tired of bypassing the softener every time I needed water (I'm hydro so that's often) so I installed an RO filter. Now I find myself replacing what reverse osmosis takes out. Seems counter-intuitive, but frankly I love the control it gives me.
If you want to be sure, have a water analysis performed. You indicated you could get one locally - just make sure it gives you a good ppm reading of calcium, magnesium, and any other minerals. And one thing that can't be beat about a good water assessment is identifying any contaminants. Radon, pesticides, coliform bacteria... who knows how many other possibilities exist. Something as simple as a rat that made it inside your wellhead and drowned... it happens.
Hope this helps, bestaluck to ya, feel free to call out if any questions.
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