calmag plus

[michaelpeg]

how important is calmag plus if you are using distilled tap water, what effects will it have on my plant if i dont use it?

[Weedhound]

There are a few nutes that say they don't require CalMag but I might use it anyway. As it is I use RO water and CalMAg and love the way my plants grow.

Worst case scenario....enough magnesium, calcium deficiencies etc can certainly eventually kill your plants one way or another.

[Perp]

Is there magnesium and calcium in your distilled tap water? If so, then you don't need it.

[michaelpeg]

thanks, i dont know if there is cal or mag in my water but i just remember reading somewhere in here that if you are using distilled tap water you should use calmag plus

[stinkyattic]

Is there magnesium and calcium in your distilled tap water? If the water has been distilled, then by definition, it does not contain useable amounts of any minerals.
Yes, you need CalMag if you are using distilled water.

[michaelpeg]

thanks again stinky anything you say i need thats what i go get lol (if its $100 or less)

[Weedhound]

Is there magnesium and calcium in your distilled tap water? If so, then you don't need it.

Lol......how many calories in your water? :jointsmile:

[stinkyattic]

Watch out... do not feed the Ego of the Stinkster. It is dangerous! RRRROWR!!!

I'll try not to steer ya wrong; I'm a wicked cheapskate myself and have been known to dumpster-dive for equipment. But there's a couple things you just can't get away with skimping on. Calmag is one if you run RO or distilled.

But remember that if you are in soil, tap water is almost ALWAYS perfectly fine.

[michaelpeg]

awesome so i dont have to distill my water and nothing will get locked out? then my life gets a little easier

[gainesvillegreen]

awesome so i dont have to distill my water and nothing will get locked out? then my life gets a little easier

Do you distill your own tap water? Perhaps you mean that you let it sit for a few days for chlorine to evaporate?

[michaelpeg]

yes thats what i do, sorry i thought this process was called distilling water

[stinkyattic]

Nope, all that does is allowed excess gases that would be dissolved at cold temps, and compounds that would be liquid under those conditions but would be gases under normal atmospheric conditions, to evaporate off.
Dissolved minerals do not go into gaseous forms at room temperature, and therefore remain. To truly distill water, you must bring it to boiling and then re-condense and collect only the pure water fraction.

[michaelpeg]

wow ive been thinking like that for quite some time thanks for clearing that up. So i guess it is still a good idea to let it sit for a few days?

[Perp]

If the water has been distilled, then by definition, it does not contain useable amounts of any minerals.
Yes, you need CalMag if you are using distilled water.

I didn't know what distillation filtered out as compared to RO. Now I know..

[stinkyattic]

Ideally, the end product of distilled water would be the same as the end product of RO... but since the distillation process involves plenty of contact with atmospheric gases, which become dissolved in water (the levels depend upon the temperature of the water and will change over time as it sits), distilled water DOES have substances in it that are not H20.
Dissolved Oxygen, CO2, and N2 are present in distilled water, adn go into various equilibria in the solution.
However, CaCO3 (limestone), which is very very common in tap and surface waters, is removed, since it cannot vaporize at water's boiling point, which brings us back to why you need CalMag if you are running any type of purified water.