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Discuss water requirements, "soil" (growing media) and suitable planting containers

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By VFT Lover
Posts:  116
Joined:  Mon May 23, 2016 1:35 pm
#264402
Hey... l Just want to Ask if it is Good to collect rain water.... l collect it in plastic trash container and l Cover it with towell and put on very heavy board so nothing cant Go in.... also it is very clear and Not yellowish and without bugs in it... but should l collect it or Not? I think it is Good. But l Ask you too???

Thanks for advice.... :D
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By VFT Lover
Posts:  116
Joined:  Mon May 23, 2016 1:35 pm
#264407
Thanks Man!!!
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By xr280xr
Posts:  2807
Joined:  Wed Jun 22, 2011 3:29 pm
#264522
Good idea covering with a board & towel. Thanks!
By tommyr
Location: 
Posts:  1748
Joined:  Mon Nov 02, 2009 1:38 am
#264954
I use a 20 gallon plastic garbage can lid and when full I cover it with the lid. I also collect rain in several 5 gallon buckets. I place 1/4 of a "Mosquito dunk" in each container to eliminate mosquitoes.
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By Jaws
Location: 
Posts:  1304
Joined:  Sun Apr 18, 2010 11:11 pm
#264974
tommyr wrote:I use a 20 gallon plastic garbage can lid and when full I cover it with the lid. I also collect rain in several 5 gallon buckets. I place 1/4 of a "Mosquito dunk" in each container to eliminate mosquitoes.
Is that dunk chemical based ? id check if it can affect plants.
By tommyr
Location: 
Posts:  1748
Joined:  Mon Nov 02, 2009 1:38 am
#264977
Jaws wrote:
tommyr wrote:I use a 20 gallon plastic garbage can lid and when full I cover it with the lid. I also collect rain in several 5 gallon buckets. I place 1/4 of a "Mosquito dunk" in each container to eliminate mosquitoes.
Is that dunk chemical based ? id check if it can affect plants.
It is BT, an all natural larvicide.
By thomasthekat
Posts:  11
Joined:  Sat Jun 11, 2016 4:16 pm
#265040
Hello, I'm sure I'm not the only one that does this ....but, I have a midsized dehumidifier, that are designed for pulling water out of the air in musty basements and such. I set it outside under my covered back porch, and it collects over 3 gallons a day ( of pure water) from the humid summer air. It's a great source of cheap and abundant CP water. I fill about a half dozen plastic milk jugs so I always have some on hand.
By tommyr
Location: 
Posts:  1748
Joined:  Mon Nov 02, 2009 1:38 am
#265042
thomasthekat wrote:Hello, I'm sure I'm not the only one that does this ....but, I have a midsized dehumidifier, that are designed for pulling water out of the air in musty basements and such. I set it outside under my covered back porch, and it collects over 3 gallons a day ( of pure water) from the humid summer air. It's a great source of cheap and abundant CP water. I fill about a half dozen plastic milk jugs so I always have some on hand.

I like dehumidifiers but they use a LOT of electricity.
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By pieguy452
Posts:  2460
Joined:  Sun May 22, 2011 11:09 pm
#265068
thomasthekat wrote:Hello, I'm sure I'm not the only one that does this ....but, I have a midsized dehumidifier, that are designed for pulling water out of the air in musty basements and such. I set it outside under my covered back porch, and it collects over 3 gallons a day ( of pure water) from the humid summer air. It's a great source of cheap and abundant CP water. I fill about a half dozen plastic milk jugs so I always have some on hand.
I used to use dehumidifier water when I had less flytraps but noticed my plants slowly declined when I watered them with it. So i just stopped using it. I tested the ppm and it was below 50. Could have been my dehumidifier, not sure.....
By Big-Jack
Posts:  357
Joined:  Sun Jun 12, 2016 7:46 pm
#265129
If it is basement dehumidifier water it could contain a lot of mold spores. Not sure if this would cause a negative affect on your plants or not but something to think about.
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By xr280xr
Posts:  2807
Joined:  Wed Jun 22, 2011 3:29 pm
#265187
tommyr wrote: I like dehumidifiers but they use a LOT of electricity.
Ya, could be a good source of water if you're already using the dehumidifier anyway (unless it's being tainted by something in the process), but otherwise it's probably not the cheapest way to get distilled water.
By entropy81
Posts:  302
Joined:  Mon Feb 03, 2014 8:10 pm
#265297
I just wait until it's raining and then I go put a watering can under the downspout from the gutter. In a heavy rain I get 0 TDS off the roof and since it's raining on the whole roof, I can get 5 gallons out of the spout in about 5-15 minutes. With a good storm I can collect 20 gallons easy.

Then I pour it in 5 gallon water cooler jugs and I use tinfoil to make a cap.
By Big-Jack
Posts:  357
Joined:  Sun Jun 12, 2016 7:46 pm
#265307
entropy81 wrote:I just wait until it's raining and then I go put a watering can under the downspout from the gutter. In a heavy rain I get 0 TDS off the roof and since it's raining on the whole roof, I can get 5 gallons out of the spout in about 5-15 minutes. With a good storm I can collect 20 gallons easy.

Then I pour it in 5 gallon water cooler jugs and I use tinfoil to make a cap.
I've done this myself. I always wait until it has been raining a while to start collecting so the roof has been well rinsed off of bird crap and oil from the shingles.
By crazidirtbiker
Posts:  39
Joined:  Thu Jun 13, 2013 7:14 am
#282518
I always filter my rain water through coffee filters or a paper towel as im filling my gallon juggs. I have about 15 gallons of filtered rain water. I use it and collect it as i go putting the fresh collected water in the back of the stack so it never stagnates for to long using the older stuff first. I dont collect off my roof because i rather keep shingle dust out of my water along with other things. I keep my water all winter and continue using it next grow season no problem. If u need ALOT of water and dont wanna use ur roof u can set up a tarp and catch or direct as much water as u need to then put in containers. We all have are own methods and i like to be axtra safe with my vft's. 15 gallons seems to be the magic number for me. I never have to fill more then 2 or 3 juggs at a time between rains so the filtering process isnt to tedious. I got that number by running out of water muiltiple times till i stopped runnimg out by collecting more lol
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