rain water

[BentBuddha]

My tap water ec is 0.7. I tested some rain water out of the tank and it was 0.1. My question: is there anything in rain water that wouldn't show up on the ec reading that would be bad for my plants or bad to smoke

 

bb

[torture]

i would of thought rainwater was great... no chlorine or anything

[james25]

ok heres my take

 

it depends on where you live.....if you're in a city with dirty air/pollution, then the rain is gonna be full of whatever is in the air...i remember high school chemistry when they described a precipitate...like a glass of water with particles innit, then you throw in some chemical and it settles to the bottom and takes the particles with it....rain is also known as precipitation......maybe im full of it , even though i live in the mountains i dont because my tap water is good and it would be a bother to collect

[mull]

Hey BB, not sure what will show up on your ec readings but it depends where your tank is and what it catches off.

Might have exhaust heavy metals thro to chemical or fertilizer over sprays; city to country. (plus guanos, local dirt, leaves..)

 

Maybe filter the rw for plants if its a concern. Certainly filter it for drinking.

[mullray]

Rain water rocks..... I use it all winter. Use a 5 micron filter if you like to remove any sediment. Best to wash the gutters before the rains come.

[Earl]

I agree with Mullray

rainwater is great.

 

.

[Luke Skywalker]

Just beware taking it from a galvanised roof, as you can draw excessive amounts of zinc which could cause nutrient toxicity... Make sure your roof and gutters are clean and never use the first flush of rain as tank water.

 

Otherwise? Brilliant stuff. I use RO as my situation doesn't allow for rainwater collection, (not easily or safely anyway) but if you're in doubt you could likely get a sample tested for specific nutrients somewhere, which is a common enough request.

 

Good luck with it.

[rifishman]

I use RW here in the USA all the time. At the moment we have 2 days of rain. I let the gutter spout run out for a few hours during the first part of the rain to rinse out an incidentals that may have been on the roof or in the gutters.

 

I run all my rainwater into 35-40 gallon covered trash cans that I have added a 5 caster dolly to to wheel them in and out of the garage.

 

I use the RW on all my clones and for misting during the cloning stage. A friend of mine also uses his RWQ runoff to feed all of his plants as he is growing in soil and I am in hydro.

 

I have well water and the EC is around 200 from the house well water and 000 from the RW, so the RW is essentially clean of all minerals.

 

I occasionally get a minute reading on my EC meter, but suspect that may have been some deposits from the copper gutters that I have installed or incidentals on the shingles on the roof.

 

It seems to work for me and the water is crystal clear in the drums that I store it in.

 

Hope this helps.

 

RIFISHMAN