Chlorine was easy compared to this

Beneficial Microbes, Fungi, & Bacteria
#1

Howdy Folks,
Hope everyone is having a good weekend and had a very relaxing Thanksgiving dinner with family, friends and loved ones. As the title reads, Thanksgiving has nothing to do with microbes or soil nutrients but your tap water or aged jugs may contain something far more toxic than any conversation you may have with that fringe psycho uncle that gets drunk and swears the earth is flat.

Almost everyone knows that most municipalities treat their water with Ozone at the treatment plant and chlorine in the pipes to kill bacteria and germs. However, most don’t know that SOME cities have switched from Chlorine to Chloramine. They both look like they are spelled close enough to be the same thing but you would be dead wrong. Chloramine is a toxic disaster to those beneficial microbes we love to cultivate and have babysit our cannabis roots.

   Chlorine VS Chloramine

Chlorine is an easy enough element to avoid if you let your jugs of water sit out and let the chlorine evaporate for a day or two. Most end up with decent water with very little trace elements and particles in the water after 24-48 hours of resting. That’s until you do a little digging and find out your city NOW uses Chloramine. What is Chloramine you ask? Well it’s a nasty little combination of ammonia and chlorine together to create a very long lasting residual in the water you’re feeding your plants, killing the microbes your soil the entire time. Chlorine ISN’T a problem, but Chloramine is a BIG Friggin problem.

Well, what is Chloramine and why is it a problem? 
           Good question!

Chlorine will evaporate from your standing water supply in as little as 12 hours and up to 48 hours depending on the amount of water.

On the other hand, Chloramine is an Ammonia and Chlorine mix that is stable in water and can last for WEEKS, yes I said WEEKS.

Can it be removed as easily as Chlorine? Not a chance.
Removal of Chloramine requires UV light, RO machines or Vitamin C neutralization, which takes quite a long time to achieve.

I know, feels like another gut punch doesn’t it? Just when you think you have everything figured out and you’re on a roll, something else pops up to bite you on the rear end.

I know there are rules about links and such but anyone can do a cursory search of the interwebz and see if their city is using Chlorine or Chloramine. Sadly, mine is and now I have to figure out how to get rid of it before my next round of plants.

Looks like I’ll be boiling a crap ton of water before too long.
/Facepalm :confounded: :persevere: :angry: :rage: :expressionless:

#2

Or catch rain water
we have smaller towns and each treats its water differently.
Perhaps you can check nearby towns/communities

#3

Oh no no you don’t want the rainwater from around here. You’ll have the first
cannabis strain known as “Dirty diesel gasoline fume chemical factory soot grey haze” bud.
If I was dying I wouldn’t drink the rain water from here.
LOL yes it’s that bad.

I found something called ATI water neutralizer for exotic fish/fresh and salt water aquariums. I’ll give that a try and see what it does. It is supposed to break down Chloramine and Ammonia.
It’s only a few bucks so what the hell. I’ll be the Guinea pig.

@Spiney_norman I sincerely appreciate the suggestion though, genuinely.

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#4

I live in a rural area & the closest town supplies our water. Several years ago they started using chloramine, when asked why they said because of the lenght of all the pipes add up to the level of making it nessesary. Don’t know if I believe their answer, but I don’t know anything about water except what W.C. Fields said about it, “Ah yeah, water never drink the stuff fish fuck in it”.
edit: I read in one of the Amazon ratings that the aquarium pills aren’t what you want in your plants. Don’t know the guy or his credentials just saw that & passing it on.

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#5

@pillsbury

Best reply EVER !!
Thanks for that, I needed the laugh.
Times are tough these days.

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#6

Theres not a ton of cities that do it heres a Link to website that has all (or probably most)American cities that use it luckily my state doesn’t

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#7

Apparently a carbon filter or campden tablets are two suitable ways to remove chloramine.
Some will say an RO filter wont and technically thats true, but RO filters always have pre and post filters and if these are carbon you will be fine. Article will explain more…

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#8

I saw this too but shopping for 1 carbon filter was enough for me LOL
The one on my exhaust is enough. Fortunately I found a cheaper solution that fits my budget.
API fish tank water conditioner. few drops per gallon is all you need. Comes in 16oz and 1 quart, sizes, under $10 and it works in a very short time frame.

I currently have a query pending with API asking what the conditioner breaks the Chloramine down to.
I know in it’s original formula Chloramine is Chlorine and Ammonia but when you break things at a molecular level sometimes other compounds can be formed. Especially if you have other dissolved solids in your water. I’m assuming it’s only Chlorine and Ammonia in the raw but I’m just being thorough.
I’ll definitely let everyone know what they respond with.

Just to be clear, I know Chloramine doesn’t affect plants BUT my concern is the Microbes and Fungus that help support a healthy plant. I keep thinking about what I read on here a while ago, “focus your efforts on a healthy root system and everything above the dirt will take care of itself. Let the leaves tell you what the roots want and you’ll remove most of the guess work in growing cannabis”. Best advice I’ve ever read being a noob in this hobby.

I’ll post what I am told by API once they get back to me.
(I’m not promoting nor endorsing API water conditioner, it was just the first solution I found with very good reviews and very easy on the wallet with it being pretty cheap).

Have yourselves a fantastic week and stay away from the crazy holiday shopping traffic.
People out there are CRAZY today!
Regards,
PhillyRock

#9

I get lucky about once in a while. No telling how or when the luck kicks in, but on occasion
it’s beneficial. Usually it’s a really close parking space or a free quarter in my shopping cart return
stall. This time, I’m counting this as a lottery win!

I just got a reply from API and MarsFishCo. and I’m VERY VERY Happy!!!
They wouldn’t give me a percentage BUT they just confirmed the two active ingredients are
borax and calcium oxide. The dosage required per 1 gallon, 3 drops. Cures an entire gallon in 45-60 seconds.

So I did a little research and discovered that Borax is derived from Boron, which helps plants reproductive process AND calcium oxide helps plants absorb and uptake calcium. This is a gift
and probably the last of my luck this year so I’ll suck it up and enjoy it.

I’m just very happy I found a cheap solution for my problem that wont harm the microbes and fugus in the soil, removing heavy metals and improving plant health.

I dun gud dis tyme!

I appreciate the folks that listened and helped me with ideas,
I sincerely hope there are other unique solutions that increase the success
of everyone’s garden and we can all learn from each other!

Hope everyone has a great rest of the week,
Take care and just remember, only 3 days until the weekend.
Chin up!
PhillyRock

#10

Supplemental: I treated a gallon of water with this conditioner stuff and did a before and after
TDS test. Out the tap the pH was 7.11 with a TDS of 188, after the 3 drops of treatment I
returned a TDS of 129 and a pH of 7.05 so it seems to be working.

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#11

I did some research on chloramines awhile back for the same reason you probably did.
“This can’t be good for the grow” here’s what I learned

  1. Chloramines can’t be boiled out
  2. Chlorides are a micronutrient that cannabis can use
  3. Soil has a natural demand for chlorine (it’s like 3ppm or something like that) Chloramine levels in municipal water are low enough that your soil will grab onto the majority of it to satisfy that need.
  4. What does make it to your root system and beneficials will have minimal impact on bacteria/microbe population as their reproduction rate far exceeds the damage it may cause.
    I’m no scientist by any means, this is just some info I have come across while doing my research. :v:
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#12

I sincerely appreciate the extra information. I hope my post wasn’t an over reaction.

As a noob, I wanted to eliminate all possibilities that I could be further complicating my
growing process due to it being in a such confined space. I also didn’t appreciate finding
out about my water supply containing Chloramine instead of Chlorine. I got a little worried
when I saw Chloramine was Chlorine bound to ammonia and had no idea how it broke down.
Especially when adding other elements and nutrients.

I’m just going to use up this bottle of API and then try an all organic cycle with mixing my own
dirt, bat & worm poop, dolomite and fish slurry. Either way I’ll still have to use the same water
but with more of a organic approach it will process unwanted elements in a more
natural fashion.

Again, I genuinely appreciate the info boss. At least I can sweat a little less.
Have a great rest of the week and CHIN UP, Friday is only 48 hours away.
Regards,
PhillyRock.

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#13

I think we all go down that rabbit hole when we first start out, so much excitement, and then the info overload…before I started growing I don’t think I ever even gave my water a second thought but now I know the next town over uses aeration towers and pressurized chlorine gas to sanitize their water :joy:. I’m not an organic grower but feel free to tag me and I’ll help out if I can :v:

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#14

Very much appreciated bud, sincerely.

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#15

Ive been told by a hydroponic storeowner and a aquarium specialist that the stuff used in plant and fish aquariums is safe and will work instantly after a good shake/stir. Only downside is that it removes all heavy metal deposits which some supposedly are good? But needed minerals and stuff would be re-introduced with nutes added. I am not highly experienced but i dont think ive had any negative results using the stuff. Ive used this in my water for multiple crops.

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#16

I’m using a few different things when it comes time to introduce nutes.

Added hardwood ash and dolomite into FFOF.
I maintain the pH by letting it sit for a week or two, testing, then adding what’s needed to rebalance to 6.5-6.8.

Great White at transplant, then after two weeks a
Medium feeding of Mycos Chum.

At week 5 using half strength Dyna grow 7-9-5
then at bloom half strength Dyna Bloom 3-12-6
(Was told that Dyna grow doesn’t rely heavy on
salts so a flush wouldn’t be necessary).

For backup I have Natures Organics Cal/ Mag just in case. And giving the plants Rhino Skin every other watering @ 2ml in seedling then going to 5ml in veg and bloom until 2 weeks til
harvest.

I hope somewhere in there the metals being Yoinked are replaced.

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#17

This removes chloramines.

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#18

you sound much more experienced than i do lol. I think your all good @PhillyRock

#19

Yup i have the same stuff from diff company. I dunno if true i was told the one with aloe is better. Healthy for plant and helps a lil with hydrophobic type mediums. Again im just repeating shit i heard dont run with it lol

#20

I’m one of those autodidact clowns. Once I’m interested in something I dive face first into it and read as much as possible. Then I obsess over details and try to duplicate other people’s successes while falling miserably or fantastically failing, whichever you prefer.

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