RO Clarification for Bonsai

[ChristianDGreat]

Hello guys,

I decided to go with RO, and I just have a few questions.

1. Is adding back Cal-Mag necessary? Or in Bonsai theres alternatives product to use.
2. I also read that adding back tap water is okay too and making things simple. I saw people using 80% / 20%. My question here is, is adding back tap water bring back the weird stuff that RO remove from the first place? ( chloramine, chlorine and etc )

thanks
Chris

 

[Paradox]

Why did you decide to use RO water for your trees?

Is your tap water that bad or you just worried about chlorine?

My trees get watered with chlorinated tap water for 15 to 20 minutes every day in the summer. Never had any problems because of it.

 

[ChristianDGreat]

Why did you decide to use RO water for your trees?

Is your tap water that bad or you just worried about chlorine?

My trees get watered with chlorinated tap water for 15 to 20 minutes every day in the summer. Never had any problems because of it.

Why did you decide to use RO water for your trees? - water in my area are becoming worst and even got a letter from the City, so its dual purpose for House and Bonsai

Is your tap water that bad or you just worried about chlorine? - Just read and curious, my tap is currently at 400-500 tds

 

[Paradox]

Hmm I'm curious what my tds is now but I don't think its nearly that high. I drink my water both as just as pure water and as tea, about a half a gallon in total every day. No problems so far....

If you use a fertilizer with micro nutrients you shouldn't need to worry about adding anything to the water

 

[Shibui]

There should be nothing in treated tap water that will hurt your plants. water authority is required to do regular testing and auditing to make sure the water is safe for human consumption, animals and plants.
Chlorines do not harm plants so RO seems to be overkill to treat a problem that does not exist.
400-500 TDS should not harm plants either but could depend what the dissolved solids are. Whatever is in it should be safe because water authority cannot provide unsafe water so the dissolved solids are highly unlikely to cause any problem for plants, animals or human.

Those of us in country areas certainly use water with far more TDS and other stuff than any municipal water will ever have.

 

[ChristianDGreat]

There should be nothing in treated tap water that will hurt your plants. water authority is required to do regular testing and auditing to make sure the water is safe for human consumption, animals and plants.
Chlorines do not harm plants so RO seems to be overkill to treat a problem that does not exist.
400-500 TDS should not harm plants either but could depend what the dissolved solids are. Whatever is in it should be safe because water authority cannot provide unsafe water so the dissolved solids are highly unlikely to cause any problem for plants, animals or human.

Those of us in country areas certainly use water with far more TDS and other stuff than any municipal water will ever have.

Gotcha. I got a letter from the city that the water is not drinkable. Only my maples suffer. All connifer dont have any issues and dark green and thriving.

But of course. I want to understand for people who uses RO and their experience.

 

[Taste]

Gotcha. I got a letter from the city that the water is not drinkable. Only my maples suffer. All connifer dont have any issues and dark green and thriving.

But of course. I want to understand for people who uses RO and their experience.

What’s the recourse on a situation where the city tells you a vital service isn’t safe to use? Is this city water or a ground well you own?

 

[rockm]

Any more detail on the "no drink" letter? Is it a temporary stop, or full-time? Any reasons given for the stop?

All of that is pertinent to using it for yourself, as opposed to plants...

 

[ChristianDGreat]

Huh? Its a letter from city that the watet is not drinkable. So i end up buying ro for my house.

Thats why I want to heard from the RO user whats their experience with RO. Simple as that.

 

[Taste]

Huh? Its a letter from city that the watet is not drinkable. So i end up buying ro for my house.

Thats why I want to heard from the RO user whats their experience with RO. Simple as that.

So you’re not paying for water right cause that’s ridiculous

 

[August44]

Not sure I would live in a place where the water was not drinkable. Only in Ca would they get away with that BS. Uk!

 

[Lorax7]

Gotcha. I got a letter from the city that the water is not drinkable. Only my maples suffer. All connifer dont have any issues and dark green and thriving.

But of course. I want to understand for people who uses RO and their experience.

If your maples are indeed suffering because of your tap water, I'd bet that the actual problem is the pH and that can easily be rectified without resorting to using RO water.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Cal-Mag is the perfect fertilizer to add in small amounts to your RO water to avoid nutrient deficiencies in your plants. You want to add enough to have at least 50 ppm as calcium every time you water. Then when it is "time to fertilize" you can add a stronger dose once a month in spring or when needed.

For general horticultural purposes water should be less than 600 ppm as calcium carbonate, for most species. Hornbeams and acid loving forest species requires water with less calcium than 600 ppm, hornbeams are sensitive. (calcifuges).

 

[ChristianDGreat]

Cal-Mag is the perfect fertilizer to add in small amounts to your RO water to avoid nutrient deficiencies in your plants. You want to add enough to have at least 50 ppm as calcium every time you water. Then when it is "time to fertilize" you can add a stronger dose once a month in spring or when needed.

For general horticultural purposes water should be less than 600 ppm as calcium carbonate, for most species. Hornbeams and acid loving forest species requires water with less calcium than 600 ppm, hornbeams are sensitive. (calcifuges).

Are you saying that if RO is showing 10 tds, when i add calmag i need to check when it hit 60 tds? (to add the 50 ppm of calmag) ?

 

[Lorax7]

I can't help but notice that your location says California. You do realize that using RO water for your bonsai is going to greatly increase your water usage, while you're living in a state where water conservation is a hot button issue, right? The reverse osmosis process wastes about 4 gallons of water for every gallon of RO water produced. When it comes to drinking water for humans and their pets, the decision is a no-brainer. The city told you your water isn't drinkable. You've got to have water to drink. RO solves that problem. When it comes to bonsai, odds are its overkill. Adjusting pH for the maples that are suffering is probably all you really need to do. You don't need RO water for that. A bit of vinegar mixed in with the tap water will lower its pH. If for some strange reason the tap water's pH is actually too low (hard to imagine, but I guess it's conceivable since the city actually told you not to drink the water), then pH can be raised by addition of a base. The city's annual water quality report should tell you what the pH of your tap water is.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Are you saying that if RO is showing 10 tds, when i add calmag i need to check when it hit 60 tds? (to add the 50 ppm of calmag) ?

I am saying pure water, will leach nutrients out of plants, causing potentially long term fatal deficiencies. Short term symptoms are chlorosis and slowed growth. 'Pure water" is a range where symptoms lessen, and effect becomes species specific. Certainly 0 ppm tds through 10 tds is very pure water, more pure than current post industrial revolution rainfall. Carnivorous plants thrive in this type of situation if it is isolated from ground water. Water this pure will leach out nutrients from majority of species of trees. A careful fertilizer program is needed. Next higher range, 11 tds thru about 40 tds is quite soft, most of our rain water is in this range due to airborne dust. Still soft enough carnivorous plant communities are still possible, hornbeam, tupelo, and other forest or "acid soils" trees do well, calcium loving trees like elms and junipers don't do well. Anything above about 40 tds through 600 tds can grow a healthy vigorous tree of a very wide range of .species.

We grow hornbeam in Chicago area. Here our water is 190 ppm as calcium carbonate and 225 total dissolved solids.

A target of 60 tds is good if you must start with zero ppm water. It is high enough you won't risk chlorosis. Quite honestly, in California, it is not a practical choice to try to make ultra pure water. Low TDS water is expensive to make, especially year after year if you commit to it for a collection of trees. I would first choose your species of trees, then research the upper tds they do well with. Maples do well with much higher tds than you might think. I don't know exact numbers, but USDA Ag Extension. Service says general purpose landscape nurseries can locate anywhere water is 600 ppm tds or less without having to plan on modifying their irrigation water.

You don't. Need ultra pure water for bonsai

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Folks don't understand how bad / borderline poisonous California water can be. Delano is located in the central valley where bad agricultural practices and water mismanagement has truly poisoned the land and created areas that are toxic hazards. By law, all municipalities in California have to test and publish their water quality reports. I just looked at Delano's water. All of Delano's water comes from groundwater aquifers, and it has elevated levels of sodium, nitrate, bacteria - and dangerously high levels of arsenic, chromium, and industrial by-products, including stuff like "dibromochloropropane" which is a now-banned nematocide, and "1,2,3-trichloropropane" which is an industrial solvent. When you get test results that are over 3x the maximum safety level - it is beyond unsafe to drink. And there is nowhere else to get your water except out of a bottle from the store.

Fortunately the needs of plants are different from the needs of humans. However not all people who filter their water do so because they are paranoid Water sources can be very different - and can require different treatment approaches, particularly in areas that receive negligible rainfall.

 

[Maiden69]

I wish these things were more efficient (or at least faster), I wanted an RO, but the most efficient ones I have found are 1:1 and they are not cheap by any means.