Does anyone know of a type of filter I could place on my hose bib that
feeds my JayBird 400 Fogger... that would reduce the amount of white
dust and residue (most likely from calcium, magnesium and other
dissolved solids).

I have a decent amount of water pressure. A simple flow test yields 10
gallons per minute... so I'd need a filter that can withstand that kind
of pressure when the hose bib is turned all the way on.

I really don't want to invest in an R/O system if at all possible.

Thanks,
Lori

I do not think there is a filter that will help much. Filters remove
suspended solids while it sounds like you have dissolved mineral problems.
Water softeners will be little help because they simply replace the calcium
and magnesium with other salts. Regular rising of the plants with some sort
of acid bath (I have used citric) will help reduce the residue buildup, but
spraying your plants with acid water has it own problems. The best approach
I have found is to get better water for the Jaybird. RO is great for this
but requires a fair sized cash outlay and has maintenance issues as well.
Other options include collecting rainwater for the Jaybird or buying water.
I can buy a truckload of pretty clean water (1600 gallons I think) for less
than $25. Both the rainwater or bought water will require storage, a
pressure tank, and a pump. (A RO system will also require these three
things as well).

Pat

wrote in message
oups.com...
Does anyone know of a type of filter I could place on my hose bib that
feeds my JayBird 400 Fogger... that would reduce the amount of white
dust and residue (most likely from calcium, magnesium and other
dissolved solids).

I have a decent amount of water pressure. A simple flow test yields 10
gallons per minute... so I'd need a filter that can withstand that kind
of pressure when the hose bib is turned all the way on.

I really don't want to invest in an R/O system if at all possible.

Thanks,
Lori

Pat Brennan wrote:
I do not think there is a filter that will help much. Filters remove
suspended solids while it sounds like you have dissolved mineral problems.
Water softeners will be little help because they simply replace the calcium
and magnesium with other salts. Regular rising of the plants with some sort
of acid bath (I have used citric) will help reduce the residue buildup, but
spraying your plants with acid water has it own problems. The best approach
I have found is to get better water for the Jaybird. RO is great for this
but requires a fair sized cash outlay and has maintenance issues as well.
Other options include collecting rainwater for the Jaybird or buying water.
I can buy a truckload of pretty clean water (1600 gallons I think) for less
than $25. Both the rainwater or bought water will require storage, a
pressure tank, and a pump. (A RO system will also require these three
things as well).


I agree. Rainwater is pretty easy to collect. You don't necessarily
need a pressure tank though. I pump water out of my big tanks (1000
gallon, but you probably don't need _that_ much humidity...) with a sump
pump and a hose. You can get big stock tanks at the farm supply store,
or just use a 50 gallon trash can (10 bucks or so).

The pump I bought at one of those big box stores.I got the biggest one
I could afford that had a hose fitting built in (go for convenience!).
Maybe 80 dollars. It is pretty powerful. I have a hundred foot hose,
and I have to restrict the flow at the end to keep from blowing the
plants off the benches. For the Jaybird I might go with a smaller (and
not coincidentally much cheaper) pump.

Now, I haven't tried to hook this up to a humidifier, but I suspect
what I would do is put the pump and the humidifier on the same
electrified humidistat. When the humidifier kicks on so does the pump.

Rob


--
Rob's Rules: http://www.msu.edu/~halgren
1) There is always room for one more orchid
2) There is always room for two more orchids
2a) See rule 1
3) When one has insufficient credit to obtain more
orchids, obtain more credit

LittlefrogFarm - Growing the plants Rob likes. )

Rob,

You might want to consider adding a pressure tank. It will be easy to do.
They are fairly cheap and will take a lot of wear and tear off the pump,
prevent you from running the pump dry, and allow you to control your water
pressure. Get the pressure switch with the low pressure cutoff (about $15).

Pat

You can try a one, two, or three stage filter thingy from Lowes or
Home depot. It still won't stop it all. It would be a bit cheaper
than a whole RO system but. The best thing is going to be RO.
You allready spent the money on a good mister, might as well protect
it with a good water supply.
Check out this new thing at: http://www.airwaterice.com/ look under
the Hydroponics tab. A whole unit in a can for 200 bucks.


dude
Does anyone know of a type of filter I could place on my hose bib that
feeds my JayBird 400 Fogger... that would reduce the amount of white
dust and residue (most likely from calcium, magnesium and other
dissolved solids).

I have a decent amount of water pressure. A simple flow test yields 10
gallons per minute... so I'd need a filter that can withstand that kind
of pressure when the hose bib is turned all the way on.

I really don't want to invest in an R/O system if at all possible.

Thanks,
Lori

You can try a one, two, or three stage filter thingy from Lowes or
Home depot. It still won't stop it all. It would be a bit cheaper
than a whole RO system but. The best thing is going to be RO.
You allready spent the money on a good mister, might as well protect
it with a good water supply.

Speakin' of which- although he's not written in for a while, John
Talpa is our resident orchid-growing water expert. I bought an RO system
from him just this past week, and he personally inspected the system
between the manufacturer and the customer, and found some parts were
missing. They arrived the day before the unit got here- I didn't even know
there had been a problem. Better still, I got a "real" RO unit rather than
some warehouse hardware store toy.

John is at

Take out the "spam" and the "REMOVE" to get his real e-mail addy.

The address in the header doesn't work. Send no email there.


-AJHicks
Chandler, AZ

While traveling last fall in California I stopped by Fordyce Orchids. There
I saw a FogAmerica humidifier doing a great job in their greenhouse. I've
been using it now for about 3 months. I use regular county tap water and
have it on a humistat.

I no longer get the white residue on the plants like I did with the
hermidifier I used previously.

I recommend it!

Good Growing,
Gene





wrote in message
oups.com...
Does anyone know of a type of filter I could place on my hose bib that
feeds my JayBird 400 Fogger... that would reduce the amount of white
dust and residue (most likely from calcium, magnesium and other
dissolved solids).

I have a decent amount of water pressure. A simple flow test yields 10
gallons per minute... so I'd need a filter that can withstand that kind
of pressure when the hose bib is turned all the way on.

I really don't want to invest in an R/O system if at all possible.

Thanks,
Lori

Gene,

I'm confused.

If the water supply was the source of the white deposits in the past, and
the water supply has not changed, how can a change in the humidifier affect
the deposits?

I guess that if the new humidifier produces a finer fog, it evaporates
quicker - in the air rather than on the leaves - it might give the
impression that the deposits are reduced, but unless the water chemistry has
changed....

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Artwork, Books and Lots of Free Info!


"Gene Schurg" wrote in message
ink.net...
While traveling last fall in California I stopped by Fordyce Orchids.
There
I saw a FogAmerica humidifier doing a great job in their greenhouse. I've
been using it now for about 3 months. I use regular county tap water and
have it on a humistat.

I no longer get the white residue on the plants like I did with the
hermidifier I used previously.

I recommend it!

Good Growing,
Gene





wrote in message
oups.com...
Does anyone know of a type of filter I could place on my hose bib that
feeds my JayBird 400 Fogger... that would reduce the amount of white
dust and residue (most likely from calcium, magnesium and other
dissolved solids).

I have a decent amount of water pressure. A simple flow test yields 10
gallons per minute... so I'd need a filter that can withstand that kind
of pressure when the hose bib is turned all the way on.

I really don't want to invest in an R/O system if at all possible.

Thanks,
Lori

Ray...that's a good question.

The Fog America humidifier does produce a very fine mist. It really is a
fog. I don't see any residue anywhere so I don't know where the junk in the
water goes.

All I know is that the gunk is gone....and that's a good thing.

Gene

PS...now with the MSU Fertilizer I will have huge results! Got it
yesterday.








"Ray" wrote in message
...
Gene,

I'm confused.

If the water supply was the source of the white deposits in the past, and
the water supply has not changed, how can a change in the humidifier
affect
the deposits?

I guess that if the new humidifier produces a finer fog, it evaporates
quicker - in the air rather than on the leaves - it might give the
impression that the deposits are reduced, but unless the water chemistry
has
changed....

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Artwork, Books and Lots of Free Info!


"Gene Schurg" wrote in message
ink.net...
While traveling last fall in California I stopped by Fordyce Orchids.
There
I saw a FogAmerica humidifier doing a great job in their greenhouse.
I've
been using it now for about 3 months. I use regular county tap water
and
have it on a humistat.

I no longer get the white residue on the plants like I did with the
hermidifier I used previously.

I recommend it!

Good Growing,
Gene





wrote in message
oups.com...
Does anyone know of a type of filter I could place on my hose bib that
feeds my JayBird 400 Fogger... that would reduce the amount of white
dust and residue (most likely from calcium, magnesium and other
dissolved solids).

I have a decent amount of water pressure. A simple flow test yields 10
gallons per minute... so I'd need a filter that can withstand that kind
of pressure when the hose bib is turned all the way on.

I really don't want to invest in an R/O system if at all possible.

Thanks,
Lori