Types of Water in a Hydroponic System

There are many types of water to choose from when sourcing water for your hydroponic system.  Some are better than others, and now is the time to determine the differences. The best situation is to have water with no added minerals, with an EC of close to zero milliSiemens, or μs, and a pH of close to neutral, or 7.0.  This makes it easy to add everything your plants need to the water, without risking toxicity due to an excess of one or more elements.  In most cases, this is not possible, so it’s important to be selective when choosing a water source.  With whatever source you choose, it may be a good idea to have the water analyzed to find out exactly what you are giving to your plants.  You can also test the water yourself with an EC meter.

 Rainwater is the best choice, because it is filtered by nature through the water cycle’s processes of evaporation, condensation, and finally by precipitation.  Rainwater is nature’s reverse osmosis water, and plants are naturally watered with it in nature.

Reverse osmosis, or RO, is the next best thing to rainwater.  It is a water purification process that removes nearly everything from the water by running it through a specialized membrane.  Using RO water allows you, the grower, to start with a blank slate to which you can add exactly what nutrients your plants need, and not worry about having minerals or bacteria that they don’t need.  Our article Reverse Osmosis also known as “RO” explains more on reverse osmosis.

If rainwater or RO water is not available, your next best choice is tap water.  Water treatment plants typically remove as much as possible from the water using reverse osmosis, and then they add elements such as fluoride, chlorine, and other elements back into it.  Fluoride may cause yellow leaves or slowed growth in garden or landscape plants.  It can also negatively impact soil microbes, which can be harmful for garden plants but not for plants in hydroponic systems, because hydroponics does not rely on soil microbes.  Some treatment plants add compounds to reduce pipe corrosion such as zinc orthophosphate, and ammonia may even be added to reduce the chlorine-like taste of the water.  Chlorine is not good for your plants because it stunts growth, but it is easy to get rid of.  When using tap water, the simplest way to get rid of the chlorine is to let it sit out in an open container for 24 hours until the chlorine evaporates.  Another option is to use a charcoal filter to remove chlorine.  These filters can be attached in-line with your hose and are relatively inexpensive to purchase from many hardware stores.  Tap water runs through the filter and comes out ready for use in your garden.

Believe it or not, well water tends to be the worst choice when choosing a source for your hydroponic system.  Well water has been sitting in the ground, which means that anything in the ground can leach into the water and contaminate it.  Many areas of the country have lots of limestone underground, which significantly raises the pH of the well water.  You’ll end up spending more in labor and product cost, because you’ll constantly need to lower the pH.  Well water also tends to have a high mineral content, which may overload your plants with one or more minerals, causing toxicity.  Even worse, well water may be impacted by surrounding land uses such as coal mining and burning, and can become hazardous to you and your plants.   It is important to always be aware of the neighboring land uses, and soil types of the surrounding your well, whether you use it for your garden or not!

Remember, the more pure your water is, the better it will be for you and your plants.  Rainwater is the best option, and can be collected on your property.  If you’ve got the resources, you might want to consider investing in a reverse osmosis system for your garden or greenhouse.  The next best option is tap water with the chlorine removed.  Finally, well water is the last choice because of everything that may be dissolved in it, but keep in mind you can RO well water.  If you every run into problems with your plants, take a step back and find out what is in your water.  This may cause many issues with plant health, and can be very simple to fix.

Hydroponic Nutrients

Fertilizer vs. Hydroponic Nutrients In order to begin a discussion on hydroponic nutrients, it’s important to first distinguish the difference between the terms fertilizer and hydroponic nutrient. Fertilizer is intended to feed the microorganisms in the soil, such as beneficial bacteria and fungi.  All of the living components in the soil must READ MORE Hydroponics, Nutrients Related Article

EC vs TDS

A quick answer to why we should use EC instead of TDS The debate over EC and TDS has been an ongoing issue for a long time. These two measurements are used to determine the strength of hydroponic solution. Although they are widely used they should only be used as a READ MORE Hydroponics, Nutrients Related Article

Organic Does Not Mean “No Pesticides”

Many people believe that organic produce does not contain pesticides, which is a common misconception.  In order to become certified organic, 95% of the chemicals a farm uses must be certified organic.  This means that 5% of the pesticides, fertilizer, or herbicides may be synthetic!  Organic farmers can use as READ MORE Hydroponics Related Article

How Plants Uptake Nutrients

Nutrients play an important role in many plant processes. Nitrogen, for example, is a component of both amino acids (the building blocks of protein) and chlorophyll (the green pigment present in all plants). Phosphorous is essential to the formation of a plant’s DNA and RNA, and potassium is crucial to READ MORE Hydroponics, Nutrients Related Article

What is Aquaponics

Welcome back!  Let’s keep discussing the different categories of hydroponics.  If you haven’t read our Foundation of Hydroponics article, check it out first, then meet back here.  Just to recap, the first category that is used to classify hydroponic systems is called the Class of Hydroponics, and it describes how READ MORE Hydroponics Related Article