White residue - hard water?

[cannashaman]

Hello, folks.

I've enjoyed being a fly on the wall in this lovely place. I appreciate your vibe! I'm about to buzzz attention to myself though.

I'm getting started in a new place, and I'm having trouble diagnosing my problem. I'm using a GH WaterFarm with GH nutes (strength: between that for seedlings and the general, mild solution). I topped off the 13 gallons I started with by adding 5 gallons of clear water I ran through a hiking filter (no nutes in the top-off). I've got four units under a 400W light in a 63-degree-F room @ 50% relative humidity. I have a well and HARD WATER described by the tester from Sears as â??one grain of hardness,â?� after processing by the Kenmore water softener. No iron, no bacteria. I'm guessing the mineral content is predominantly calcium judging by the white residue â?? although there's a little reddish coloration (sulphur?), and I don't know how much magnesium, if any. In short, I suspect it's a water problem.

When I returned after a few days away during Xmas, there was a lot of white residue on the seedlings, too (clogging their â??poresâ?�?). Since then, I've sprayed them down with bottled water once or twice a day. But they're still very sick, dying I presume.

I can start over; but I would very much like to get it right! I've attached some pictures of my gasping seedlings, propped up on tooth-pick and straw scaffolding.

Help! What's my problem, and how do I fix it? Or how do I provide more information so I'm asking my question better!?

Thanks all, and peace.

cannashaman Reviewed by cannashaman on 01-06-2011. White residue - hard water? Hello, folks. I've enjoyed being a fly on the wall in this lovely place. I appreciate your vibe! I'm about to buzzz attention to myself though. :) I'm getting started in a new place, and I'm having trouble diagnosing my problem. I'm using a GH WaterFarm with GH nutes (strength: between that for seedlings and the general, mild solution). I topped off the 13 gallons I started with by adding 5 gallons of clear water I ran through a hiking filter (no nutes in the top-off). I've got four Rating: 5

[tikiroom]

Could it be sodium from the water softener?

[stickydankAZ]

the red stuff is rust from the metal pipes used by your well
your screwed bro its going to cost you a RO system and get one with easy to change filters and stock up on filters Ahhhhh sorry for the bad news

P.S.your hot water heater full of this shit too

[cannashaman]

Thanks for the feedback; I appreciate it.

Brita-type filtration (or something short of reverse osmosis) wouldn't be good enough? I'm renting and don't want to invest - at least in a whole-house filter... Maybe I should get a water mule? - you know, bring it all in.

Should I do something to test for sodium?

[cannashaman]

Ooh!: If the softness (or sodium by-product of softening) is a problem, I could try grabbing my water hard, from a hose in the line before it gets to the softener... Would the hardness then be a problem?

[tikiroom]

Only one way to find out, you already know it doesn't work this way. Salt can be deadly to plants.

[cannashaman]

Right. I'll try it!

[tinytoon]

Do yoyu have an EC/PPM meter?? if so test water before it gets to softner.

[cannashaman]

tinytoon, I have a GB Instruments GMT-319 multi-meter; but I am not sure how to use it to measure EC/PPM (if I even can measure electrical conductivity in my water with it). Advice?

Well, it's been half a day with the new "hard water" nute solution, and I see no reside building! Hope! But I'm afraid the plants are so far gone that I'll have to start fresh to really test this.

Is EC/PPM a big enough factor given my situation so that I ought to get a read of it before re-starting?

Thanks!

[tikiroom]

Two key instruments for hydro are ec and ph meters. :thumbsup: