"Ray" wrote in message
...
Whoa!!! I think Pat has unnecessarily painted a real scary picture there.
snip

I know three growers who have used RO water without any problems. Ray is
one of them. I know six growers who have cooked plants with RO. I am one
of them. Ray used Dyna-Gro/ProTekt in RO water with great results for
years. I used Dyna-Gro/ProTekt in RO water and after 3 months my substrate
pH was sitting at 3.6. MSU fertilizer makers do not seem to be concerned
with adding alkalinity to RO water, while a similar formulation from Jack
Peters suggests it very strongly. I am of the school that thinks alkalinity
should be added back into RO water, Ray is not. Why the differences? I do
not know. This is not an opinion thing, both Ray's knowledge and my own
have been learned first hand with years of growing. Maybe it has something
to due with the RO units, the substrate we use, or our watering habits. But
when you make the switch to RO either you will have no problems and I will
seem like a scum unnecessarily scaring people or your substrate pH will
crash and Ray will seem like an idiot. I hope I am the scum, but the
leachate tests will help identify problems before plants are damaged. I
think Ray will agree with me here, I highly recommend you read these
articles before you make the switch.

http://www.firstrays.com/PDF/Part%205%20-%20final.pdf

http://www.firstrays.com/PDF/Part%20...%20quality.pdf

Pat