Give Your MMJ Crop The Best Water To Get The Biggest Buds
Marijuana is a weed and will grow with crappy water, but If your goal is pristine medicine, start at the source. 
As I have stated in previous articles—lighting, ventilation, nutrients and water are the “essential four” elements of success for the indoor medical marijuana grower. Plants, like humans, are made mostly of water. Medical marijuana plants are around 75% H2O, so the importance of quality water in your garden should come as little surprise. Unfortunately, water is an overlooked necessity mainly because sufficient water is generally easy to come by. When trying to create the best medicine possible, sufficient isn’t good enough and it becomes apparent that as we strive for perfection, we must purify our water source.
Tap water is probably the most common water source used by indoor medical marijuana growers. Most tap water actually contains a lot of goodies that your plants can use. Sadly, it also contains a slew of nasties that can be harmful to your plants and should be avoided. It is a good idea to request a water analysis from your water provider. Most companies offer this information as a free service and, if not, it is generally worth the small fee.
Chlorine is a common chemical found in tap water and should be removed before feeding your plants. Chlorine kills many of the beneficial microorganisms that thrive in a healthy plant’s rhizosphere. Chlorine also can add unwanted flavors to your medicine, so the removal is imperative. One method to help remove chlorine is to allow your water to sit out for 24 hours. Chlorine naturally gases off over time, so letting your water sit out is generally better than not.
Well water is another common water source for horticulturalists. Some well water is actually pretty balanced and contains a good ratio of micronutrients. However, most well water contains either too much sulfur or too much iron and needs to be filtered. It is a good idea to have your well water analyzed so you know what needs to be treated.
Sometimes it is necessary to provide a specific filter to catch a specific element. In a grow operation I did in Northern California, the well water had an extremely high amount of sulfur. I had to install a sulfur specific filtration system and a reverse osmosis system in order to produce quality water for the plants.
In most cases, filtering tap or well water with a reverse osmosis system is the best way to produce quality water. Reverse osmosis is essentially a process of water purification utilizing a membrane and pressure. Natural osmosis seeks an equilibrium of solute concentration. Osmosis is the process of a solvent moving through a membrane from an area of low solute concentration to high solute concentration with the purpose of diluting the concentration until equilibrium of solute concentration is reached. By applying an external pressure, we can reverse the natural flow of the solvent through an artificial membrane, thus creating reverse osmosis.
This process allows us to purify water to its most basic form, containing little or no solvents and maintaining a neutral pH. There are many companies that produce reverse osmosis systems, but not many that can meet the needs of the medical marijuana grower. I am most impressed with Growonix’s reverse osmosis systems. They are the only company to produce horticultural specific, high-efficiency systems that are easy to use and maintain.
Some growers will argue that their tap or well water is working fine and there is no need to invest into filtration systems. I was one of those gardeners for years, until I finally tried a reverse osmosis system and saw the results. My plants were more vibrantly healthy and produced more medicine. I had less problems and my overall flavor increased. Medical marijuana is a weed and will grow adequately with crappy water. If your goal is to produce pristine medicine, start at the source, your water source.
