# GTA Tap water and indoor gardening?



## Crush

Hi!

I'm driving myself crazy trying to figure out why I don't have the same results at home as compared to people on Gardenweb (most of which are rural folk on well water or they have chlorine treated water.. not chloramine).

After a lot of reading, it seems that the chloramine in the tap water is killing the organic nutrients in my soil mix.

I just ordered some ClorAm-X from http://www.kensfish.com/product400.html

Can anyone shed some light on tap water and indoor gardening?

Thanks a bunch


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## Zebrapl3co

You will need to treat the tap water properly before you can use it. While chlorine can dissipate in 1 or 2 days. Chloramine will take 1 week to dissipate. Either you let the water site for a week and then test it again for any presence of chloramine. Or if you don't have the space, treat is with Chloram-X. I believe it's 1/2 teaspoon for every 20Gallons of water you are treating. You just need to stir the water and let it sit for 10 seconds and that should be good.
BTW, it might take a while for that shipment to get to you door. White powdery stuff usually raise alot of flags when it cross the border.

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## ubr0ke

just use prime...pick it up at any lfs


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## solarz

I've never noticed tap water having any detrimental effect on house plants.


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## Zebrapl3co

Not for most plants. I am thinking it might some kind of special plants like orchids/bonsai/hydroponic propogation/*cough*pot*cough* ...

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## characinfan

I live in East York (and before I lived in the Annex) and in all my years in TO, I've never had a problem with tap water for house plants. I've kept all sorts of things, from cacti, euphorbs, orchids, coffee trees, durian trees, various Annonaceae (sweet sop, sour sop, atemoya) trees, mulberry trees, persimmon (kaki) trees, to herbs and vegetables -- no problem.

Fish water (freshwater, anyway) is great fertilizer, too. Just make sure that if you are growing carnivorous plants (pitcher plants, Venus' fly traps, etc.) that you should use distilled water only, since an overabundance of nutrients in the water will cause these plants to stop producing traps.


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## Crush

I'm trying to do an organic grow for my cherry tomatoes. I've never had any success. If you want great tasting indoor tomatoes, you have to grow organic so this isn't just a matter of house plants and artificial fertalizer.

I don't see why so many people online on Gardenweb get such amazing results, and I'm following the exact same organic mix, buying the exact same seeds, and am getting bad results.

Also my peppers suck too. They taste like water. No green pepper flavor at all.

The organic grow relies on micro organisms in the soil as a source of nutrients. I believe, the chloramine is killing them all. That's the only thing I can think of. Why do the leaves turn orange and fall off? There's nothing else I can think of.

And I think I've been under estimating just how many people in this work are in rural areas or are on well water in the United States. It's like those with chloramine are some sort of minority in the world.

This is my 5th season growing cherry's and again I'm failing. I'm buying competition grades tomato genes and they aren't turning out at all 
http://store.tomatofest.com/Matt_s_Wild_Cherry_Tomato_Seeds_p/tf-0313a.htm

This is why I think it has something to do with chloramine in the tap water killing all the micro organisms.


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## arc

This maybe outside of the scope of plants section of an aquarium forum as I believe most of us use artificial fertilizers if any at all. 

I'm sure there are some avid gardeners here though, so if you can give more information such as, lighting, what organic matter you're using, medium, issues(is it not growing well, flowering, or just bad taste), etc...maybe we could help out.

My family has a backyard garden and have been growing tomatoes and other things for the last decade with no issues with the tap water so it maybe something else or a combination of issues.


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## solarz

Crush said:


> I'm trying to do an organic grow for my cherry tomatoes. I've never had any success. If you want great tasting indoor tomatoes, you have to grow organic so this isn't just a matter of house plants and artificial fertalizer.
> 
> I don't see why so many people online on Gardenweb get such amazing results, and I'm following the exact same organic mix, buying the exact same seeds, and am getting bad results.
> 
> Also my peppers suck too. They taste like water. No green pepper flavor at all.
> 
> The organic grow relies on micro organisms in the soil as a source of nutrients. I believe, the chloramine is killing them all. That's the only thing I can think of. Why do the leaves turn orange and fall off? There's nothing else I can think of.
> 
> And I think I've been under estimating just how many people in this work are in rural areas or are on well water in the United States. It's like those with chloramine are some sort of minority in the world.
> 
> This is my 5th season growing cherry's and again I'm failing. I'm buying competition grades tomato genes and they aren't turning out at all
> http://store.tomatofest.com/Matt_s_Wild_Cherry_Tomato_Seeds_p/tf-0313a.htm
> 
> This is why I think it has something to do with chloramine in the tap water killing all the micro organisms.


I think the most likely limiting factor in indoor gardening is light, not soil nutrients.

To hear what some people on these forums say, you would think that tap water is some kind of powerful disinfectant.


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## Zebrapl3co

That reminds me, we used to have a member here who post quite a few Aquaponic threads.
Let me see if I can find them, maybe they'll help:
http://gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20175
http://gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16600&highlight=aquaponic
And
http://www.gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9293

Throw Aquaneko a pm, he's still around.

Good luck.

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## tijuanatoad

I grew Matts wild cherry tomatoes outdoors last year with regular tap water and Schults fertilizer. I don't grow organically but I grow tomatoes, succulents, and orchids with tap water and I know you don't need to declorinate your water to grow them properly. Tomatoes need a lot of sunlight and heat/warmth to grow. Growing them indoors is difficult unless its a greenhouse. Your issue is probably with these factors, sunlight and heat is needed to ripen (increase sugars and taste) the tomatoes/peppers properly. Try growing them outdoors organically if possible. My tomatoes reach 7-9 feet yearly with tap water and regular fertilizing, and they taste better than any supermarket ones.


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## ubr0ke

tap water doesnt harm the plants...infact it has some micro's..like calcium, magnesium etc.....ur lights should run about 18-20 hours a day...
Hoglands solution is typically used for hydroponics..its about 10x what ei suggests for aquatic plants in terms of nutrients..Garden vegetables need a huge amount of nutrients..but if your following the recipe to a t..then it seems lighting might be ur issue


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