Is Water Quality REALLY That Important?
The short answer is, "It Depends."
The long answer requires qualifier questions. What kind of cannabis are you looking to grow? Cannabis which tastes almost exactly the same, right down to the last hit in the bowl? Cannabis which makes it difficult not to bite the exhale, it tastes that good? Cannabis you can lick your lips 45 minutes after a smoking a joint and go "yum!" from the terpenes still on them? How about cannabis you can take small to large hits that are so smooth, there's no desire to cough? (Getting greedy will definitely make you cough from the amount of oil you're inhaling. lol)
This type of cannabis requires starting with water as pure as you can get it. My personal preference is reverse osmosis filtered water, at 12ppm or less.
Why is Tap/Well Water Not Recommended for Cannabis?
The number one reason is because cannabis is a hyper/dynamic accumulator flower, not a vegetable. Vegetables have one route nutrients take to enter the plant. This pathway is the "passive ionic uptake." Though it sounds complicated it really isn't. When nutrients are used in the plant it creates a negative condition for that element. This condition draws needed supplies of the element into the plant from the soil or hydro solution.
Cannabis, on the other hand, has multiple pathways of uptake and they're not all passive. What's in the root zone can be absorbed by cannabis, whether it needs it or not. Excess elements, needed or not, are absorbed and have to be dealt with. Cannabis deals with excesses with the ability to fix an element directly to new tissue without being processed. A lot like having too much paint and simply painting it on the walls to get rid of it. When you clean the place out (flush/fade), the paint stays on the walls where it has dried.
Excess Elements?
When the soil or nutrient solution has more of an element than needed by the cannabis plant, it can be a quality killer. Cannabis can slowly absorb excess, painting thin layers, throughout the entire flowering cycle. Though the mix is only slightly off, the end result is easily noticed.
Compared to cannabis with a more closely balanced mix, the quality can show in a few different ways.
- A noticeable flavor change, as you get closer to the last hit in the bowl
- A higher temperature of smoke
- A harsher feel to the smoke
- A longer cherrying time
Depending on the amount of excess, terpene and cannabinoid production can be affected as well.
So Why Reverse Osmosis Water?
- It's nearly free of any elements which noticeably impact cannabis flowers
- Advice given by educated growers using r/o water can be easily duplicated
- Reactions to plants and nutrients are rock solid stable and predicatable
And daaaaang if it doesn't make for the tastiest cannabis, when you get everything else right. :D
p.s. the word marijuana brings up significant amounts of negative brain activity, in too many people. Please use the word cannabis at all times. :)