Should I Aerate My Water?

Why it benefits your plants and how to utilize aeration in your growing process for everything from cannabis to carrots! By Tilly from The Angry Farmers

Hey there again! After a bunch of debate, I thought this issue’s article should focus on aeration. As gardening season kicks into full gear, baby cannabis plants and little gardens are popping up all over social media. (And I’m sure all over your block - just like mine!) Most people have no problem watering their outdoor plants with the spigot and, for the most part, there usually are fairly few issues from it. However, if you want to take things to the next level, I would suggest adding aeration into your growing process.

Way back in elementary school, we were taught about the life cycle of a plant, and the four main things most plants need to grow - Light, air, water, and nutrients. I don’t know about you, but they seared the acronym LAWN into my head, and I will never be able to forget. Perhaps some of you will read that plants need air and think, “Well there’s air everywhere…” You’d be justified, but as with most things it goes a bit further than that.

THE BENEFITS OF AERATING WATER

Plant roots LOVE oxygen. Absolutely love it. That’s why part of growing healthy plants is making sure the soil has the right density; You’ll find that people add things like mulch, sand, perlite, and compost together, and they all provide a wonderful growing medium for many kinds of plants.

Plants “breathe” through a process called respiration. They absorb a little bit of the oxygen needed for survival through pores on their leaves and stem called stomatas but most oxygen absorption happens deep in the dirt where the roots absorb oxygen from small pockets in the soil, as well as from whatever water it gets. When growing cannabis, we want our plants to have a huge, mature root system, full of tiny root hairs that can suck up every last bit of micronutrients and deliver as much oxygen as possible to a thriving plant.

When you aerate via air pumps and air stones, it introduces dissolved oxygen to your water. Non-flowing water will become stagnant when the oxygen in the water is being used up faster than it can be replaced. Therefore, low dissolved oxygen in water can lead to anaerobic bacteria (which furthers stagnation) as well as fungal build up, such as root rot, which prevents the roots from absorbing proper nutrients.

You can infuse dissolved oxygen in two ways: through surface agitation and through contact with oxygen bubbles. Plants use the oxygen they absorb to turn stored sugar into energy and that energy helps them grow. Aerated water also gives cannabis an

extra tool for dealing with the high-stress environments grow lights can create by continually introducing fresh oxygen. As for outdoor plants and gardens, summertime can bring extremely high temperatures and low natural precipitation, so they obviously benefit as well.

HOW TO AERATE WATER.

In order to aerate your water, you must first start by collecting your supplies and, I promise, they are minimal. All you will need is a water container, an air pump kit, and water! Most average fish tank air pumps will work just fine for a watering can (or two), so be sure to check how much water the pump can handle and compare it to your container. Make sure to keep reading to see a detailed outline of our irrigation system.

First, assemble your air pump following the included instructions and fill your container. Then, insert the air stone into the bottom of the container, plug your device in, and watch it work! Don’t worry if you do not see any agitation at the top of the container; I assure you it is working. If you are concerned, feel free to test the air stone in a small cup of water. Sometimes, the instructions do not tell you to pre-soak your air stone, and if nothing is truly happening and you did not soak it, that would be the problem! Pop the air stone in some water for a couple of hours and you’ll be right as rain.

You will have to let the pump run for at least 12 hours, far less than the time for standing water to dechlorinate. Then, you can remove or turn off the pump and leave your water for future use! Running your pump constantly is beneficial - it keeps the natural nutrients and minerals in the water evenly distributed - but it really is not necessary for the average grower.

If you find yourself needing to water your plants with a hose, I’ve thought of a solution! Regular tap water will pass through an aerator attached to the end of the faucet, so theoretically, you could find a way to fasten a kitchen aerator to the end of your garden hose. Doing this will allow you to get extra oxygen right to the root system; It will not dechlorinate it, however. To take this a step further, you could fill up a large container with a spigot, or a few watering cans, and let the aerated water sit for 24 hours in the shade to dechlorinate. This isn’t super necessary when watering regular garden crops, but every little bit helps when caring for cannabis!

OUR SETUP.

At The Angry Farmer, we run our air pumps continuously, as we add unsulphured organic molasses to our watering cans and this additive increases the chance of stagnation. The molasses offers micronutrients the plants depend on, as well as a very small amount of carbohydrates, and it also lends a small hand to the overall flavor of our cannabis.

We use the following system(s):

The Supreme-Hydroponics Low Volume Air Pump with Pawfly Aquarium 13 Feet Standard Air Pump Accessories Set.

This setup services 2 large 10 gallon watering cans. The information provided with this air pump says it works up to four feet deep, but the gallon-capability information was pretty lackluster. However, in the review of the air pump, one man even states he uses this air pump to aerate a 400 gallon pond. I’d like to see that!

NICREW Nano Silent Aquarium Air Pump

This setup takes care of the water stored in our aeroponic cloning station. This product states that it can handle a fish tank up to 10 gallons.

Find it on Amazon here.

PRODUCT CHOOSING GUIDE.

Whatever brand of air pump you choose is entirely up to you! For the most part, what you really have to pay attention to is how strong the air pump is, as this will determine how much water it can properly cycle through.

Taking the fact that our 4-watt air pump can handle up to four feet of water, I’d assume that you would not need much more than 4 watts to aerate most containers. Keep in mind that, by adding things to your water like molasses or compost, you will be increasing the density of the water. Therefore, 4 watts might be perfect for a rain barrel, but barely enough for a paint bucket filled with compost tea.