TDS readings off RO water?

My tap water is around 350 ppm, when I first got RO Buddy it brought it down to 2-3 ppm. I noticed on last grow it was starting to rise up to around 10 ppm, probably time to replace membranes.

Yeah mine is about 350 what benefits did you notice from the Ro water

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The main reason I wanted to use RO was to be sure that I know exactly what my girls were getting. So I wouldn’t say there’s a benefit from the RO water, just the ability to control exactly what the plants are receiving.

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The pot saucers could be the culprit. I made that mistake and the plant was wicking the run off back into the root zone :love_you_gesture:

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I don’t use RO. I understand and share @Bulldognuts desire for control but I personally can’t justify the water consumption. Besides, I like the minerals described in my water report in my ~140 TDS tap. I simply fill a bucket and let it sit a cpl days to dechlorinate then make adjustments.

I grow in soil and use 1/4 cup Dr Earth organic dry top dress for the life-cycle stage every two weeks so my adjustments are Cal-Mag+ (I run LED lights and find it helps to add a bit occasionally), I always use phosphoric acid to lower pH, and every 7-10 days: Real Grower’s Recharge, and Mammoth P just to help break down the top dress and root zone symbiotic exchange.

I water when the pot is lite until I get very slight runoff into the saucer and allow the plant to absorb it back thru the fabric pot. I am paying for the additives so I want the soil to get it all. I am not supplying support to the plant I am supplying support to the soil. The Dr Earth breaks down over time and the plant takes what it needs when it needs it. No burn, no salt build up. Two-three weeks from harvest I stop top dressing and other additions, and only use pH dechlorinated water.

I do ck soil pH occasionally just for information purposes but I don’t worry about runoff pH or TDS.

Ok quite different than how I am doing it I am going to keep this post for reference Look into your method further in the future thank you for the input.Same as my idea on the RO wasting a lot of water every day I use 5 to 10 gallons some days that’s a lot of waste down the drainBut my water is 350 to 400 ppm

You can mix the ro into your tap water to bring down the ppm. That way you’re not going through so much ro water.

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