Is Distilled Water Good For Plants? Is Tap Water Bad For Plants? Does Chlorine Harm Plants?
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- čas přidán 5. 08. 2024
- Have you ever wondered what is the best water for your plants? This gardening in Canada video is going to look at the benefits of using different water types on your plants. We will be looking at whether or not distilled water is worth it when it comes to watering plants. If tap water is harmful to plants. And even if reverse osmosis is beneficial to use with houseplants. Lastly we will look at how to remove chlorine and chloramine from tap water before using it on plants.
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PLEASE SUBSCRIBE if you are wanting to know more on gardening in Canada & gardening in Colder Climates in general. My methods apply to the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 1 - Zone 6. As a soil scientist I always try to incorporate science into my videos. Soil science can be over complicated so allow me to guide you.
Leave a comment and let me know where your are gardening. And let me know what videos you would like to see in the future!
Ashley is an agronomist who has had a passion for plants since she was a small child. In the long summers as a child, she would garden alongside her grandmother and it was then that she realized her love for greenery. With years of great studying, Ashley had begun her post-secondary education at the University of Saskatchewan.
At first, her second love, animals, was the career path she chose but while doing her undergrad she realized that her education would take her elsewhere. And with that, four years later she graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a bachelor’s degree in science and a major in Soil Science.
Some of Ashley’s interests are CZcams, in which she posts informative videos about plants and gardening. The focus of Ashley’s CZcams channel is to bring science to gardening in a way that is informative but also helpful to others learning to garden. She also talks about the importance of having your own garden and the joys of gardening indoors. Ashley continues to study plants in her free time and hopes to expand her CZcams channel as well as her reach to up and coming gardeners.
#gardeningincanada #canadiangardener #soilscience - Jak na to + styl
Hello plant people! This would be the best solution for watering plants. geni.us/lw78g this will ensure that the valuable micronutrients is available for the plants but that the chloramine and chloride is removed. It’s better the distilled, straight tap water, reverse osmosis, but cheaper then spring water.
If your worried about the microbes, then not letting you soil dry out completely will help this. Organisms go dormant when this happens and nutrient cycling halts. Nematodes will travel away to a suitable area or just die if the environment is not right. They are responsible for a large portion of nutrient cycling. (Eating bacteria and pooping out the plant available nutrients that were stored in their biomass). Go into the forest on a hot hot day and kick the leaves and organic matter away. The soil is never dry.
We can use humic acid products to help. Humic acids are produced naturally in compost and decaying organic matter. This will tie up and bind the chlorine and chloramine. So if you grow organically/biologically its beneficial as the compost and organic matter in your garden will help bind the chemicals before they even affect the microbes. But if you grow commercially like the old school guys, you never return organic matter back to the soil and you till etc You're in big trouble. Water is now the least of your problems if that's your garden.
Great video. Quick question, I’m concerned GO gets into my organic plants through rain and tap water. Do you know if soil filters it? Thanks
Obviously RAIN WATER is best... It has worked for 1,000,000's of years. No human can do better.
Can you do a piece about using ascorbic acid to neutralize the effects of chlorine and chloramine in tap water?
Thanks for the great video! I'm thrilled that I don't need to buy an ro system! I do have a question, though. The brita data sheet doesn't use the word "chloramine," but has lots of uses of "...chlor..." - are you sure it filters out chloramine? Please forgive my ignorance of chemistry... www.brita.com/assets/eb3f3fa3a1fff302413cc75c9066e4ff.pdf
By the way, you offer information in a format that is not duplicated anywhere by anyone. I know because I follow some 25 other gardener videos.
That’s awesome I’m happy to hear that
Couldn't have said it better myself!! Talk about dropping truth! She is a walking mythbuster😀👍
That's why I've subscribed this channel and I'm already addicted :D
The National Student Research Center did an experiment with plants watered with tap, salt, and distilled water. The plants that received distilled water had better growth and more leaves. So yes, it's true that houseplant won't suffer by tap water, but they clearly don't thrive as much as plants watered with distilled water. What makes you even think that these plants actually need the minerals of tap water? Anyone at home can make a soil mix that will provide these minerals in combination with periodic fertilization or addition of cal-mag (benefits magnesium/calcium/pH), and keep salt deposits under control, but with tap water you have no way to control that buildup, you cannot say to say to your tap water "Give me less of X because salts are building up".
You can talk until you weigh an ounce, but it's simply a fact that you have far more control over the minerals that plants are getting with distilled water than tap water, which also happens to be unreliable in quality.
My tap water comes out at 220 ppm or higher and I was thinking of using distilled water to flush them to get the ppm lower than the 220 coming out the tap and actually on the next grow to mix nutrients and like you say I'll probably have to add calmag to the water but I'm thinking the plants should grow just fine.?
@@acesmoka my tap comes out with WAY higher ppm, so much chlorine it smells like a public pool, and 9 for ph. Yeah I'm not using that.
This is great information to know and contrary to some of the things I’ve read online about watering plants with RO water. I almost bought an RO water system for my cannabis, but tap water seems to work fine. I do use water from a shower filter to remove chlorine and such. One important thing I’ll mention for anyone else growing carnivorous plants is that carnivorous plants in particular do need distilled or RO water (or extremely clean tap water) because minerals in the roots will kill them. I know most people probably don’t have any carnivorous plants, but I figured I’d mention it for those who do.
Interesting!
That explains why every venus fly trap plant I've had has died within 3 months😂
So much amazing info. Thanks for all the research!
Anytime!
Wow that’s was an amazing video!!
Subscribed all the way!!
Very informative!!!!
Excellent video! Really appreciate all the scientific research and incorporation if your own knowledge as a soil scientist.
Glad you enjoyed it!
At last! Someone who really does know what they're talking about and explains things in a way that makes sense. I've been all over the internet for weeks and weeks and read so much "he said, she said", amateur pseudo-science, conflicting views, contradictory advice. You've got my vote, my subscription, my respect, and my heartfelt thanks! Just one question, please? 1. Leaving tap water to stand overnight: does the water container need to be open or can it be closed/sealed? Thanks again so much for all the good stuff on your channel. You're a shining light at the end of a tunnel :)
thanks so much! feel free to share the channel it helps enormously. CZcams doesn't push my content too new people often. You would need to leave it open and if your city uses chloramine you need to add a fish tank conditioner to break that up as well. If you can agitate the water it will help even more.
Rain water mother natures irrigation system is distilled water.
Wow… this is great information you offered! I have been using water from the two large dehumidifiers from my basement to water all my 200 house plants. My house uses well water which is extremely hard (like over 600ppm GH), so I have a water softener system (for washing) and a RO system with UV light (for drinking.) I have a lot of Calathea plants and aroids (incl. many PRICY anthuriums and Philodendrons.) Calathea in general can’t handle water with a lot of minerals (I was always told.) I’m not sure how my aroids will react to my well water (before it go through the softener system). Need advice….
By the way, I have been using Liquidirt fertilizer every time I water my plants and got great result so far. I really would like you do a video on the review of this product.
After I watched your video on soil pH, I bought the organic lime you recommended. I mixed my own potting substrate with coco coir (or potting soil), pumice, activated charcoal, orchid barks and worm casting. Now I am adding lime as you suggested.
Thanks for all you do for us! I’m so glad that I came across your video accidentally. You are a rare gem for sure! 👍👍👍
Awesome Info, Will Feel Better For Garden This Year .Thanks So Much...
Woohoo! Glad you enjoyed
One point I’d like to raise is we receive approximately 90%-95% of our minerals from the food we eat. Drinking RO or distilled water is perfectly healthy. 40+ years drinking it daily.
Great points. My family and I started drinking RO water 2 years ago mainly because I don’t want fluoride in my water and I won’t go back.
I also don’t take WHO advice seriously. Matter of fact I would say in my opinion that they don’t have the best interest of us in mind.
MY CHILDHOOD FRIEND WHO IS A SCIENTIST TOLD ME NOT TO DRINK DISTILLED WATER 💦 BECAUSE IT HAS NO MINERALS AND THEREFORE WOULD LEACH MINERALS OUT OF MY BODY…
RO water will actually evaporate more easily from your body and therefore on a super hot day you could turn to… DUST. But then you wake up. Lol take a multivitamin if you miss the minerals. Happy drinking!
Edit: added point, there are mineral stones water systems that you can use RO water and pass it through them and it will resupply your minerals. Lime a salt block or mineral salt lick for deer.
She lost me when she said tap water and spring water were the same lol
@@angeliquemarquis they are correct but did they tell you it will only leach the bad chemicals from your body that have built up from dirty tap water?
Thank you so much for your information,just so precise and actual science and study based❤
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks for clearing that up!
Absolutely anytime
You’re way underrated. Such good information.
HAHA thank you i appreciate that. its just CZcams not pushing my content yet. Maybe one day
Great video and I particularly like the chlorine information!
I use the Culligan tap water attachment filter system....
Glad you enjoyed it!
Very informative. Thanks for sharing👩🏾🌾
Anytime! Glad you enjoyed
This was awesome! Thank you. We are on well water so have super (duper) hard water. I use distilled for my humidifiers because I was done with dealing with the residue from tap water (or even brita filtered water). I use filtered tap water on all of my plants except my Alocasia.
That’s perfect! And yes well water is crazy
Thank you for this! I live in Toronto where chloramine is used. I’ve been using filters on my kitchen tap and shower head for years (just for peace of mind for drinking water and on the shower it helps with dry skin) and when I’m not in a rush I’ll use the filtered water for my plants since I assumed it would be good for them so happy to hear I’m doing the right thing. I definitely notice a difference if I use the filtered water for propagating straight in water as well.
Yea absolutely we use chloramine here in Saskatoon as well
Good to know what's in our TO water. I was going to ask if there is a website to find this out but now I don't need to. :)
I've been drinking reverse osmos's water for about 15 years now . I know people to drink distilled water regularly
Thank you! Very clear explanation.
Thank you!
Omg I’ve needed this! I’ve been freaking out over what water to use for my indoor plants. I was so worried about it that I started collecting rain water. We have a water softener that uses chlorine and salt to filter. And our well water is very orange- high in iron and sulfur. So which is better the raw well water or the soft water? We won’t have rain water all winter.
Perfect timing! Glad it was helpful 🙂
Thank you for great informations !👍
My pleasure!
I’m so glad you made this video it doesn’t exist anywhere else, I know because I’ve been looking!! Thank you for collecting this information, I work in a greenhouse that is completely geothermally heated and all our water comes from there and I’ve been so curious about how it’s affecting the houseplants I take care of! I would love to learn more lol
Cool, this video answers the 'disagreement' I had with others on which water I should water plants and drink with.
And I know this is not medicine advice. I did my own research.
yea!
I use tap water stored in a gallon. Kept it open for chlorine to evaporate. Very good info. Saves me $$,
Yup that will work if its chlorine and chloramine.
Hi. Thank you for providing such good information on water and its use with plants. I measured my tap water PH today and got a PH of 5.6. Does this seem normal?
Awesome info!
Glad you enjoyed!
I mainly use tap water, I usually fill up a watering can or 2 and let it sit, also to be room temperature. Water here is by membrane filtration and after looking it up, I see there is contact with chlorine. I meant to buy some distilled water but forget about it at the store because it's not something I usually buy. Guess I'll continue not buying it :) Thanks for this information that is totally not what I would have expected!
Glad you found it helpful! And great info! That’s a great idea of managing
I’ve just found your videos and I absolutely love the information that you share!
I live in an area where our tapwater is extremely hard. Purchasing springwater is not an option for me financially nor is lugging it from any nearby creek due to the physical hardship and it all runs through limestone anyway.
When I water my house plants with my tapwater after one or two waterings I get the hard water white crustacean around the inside of the pot as well as on the surface of the soil. Most of my house plants do not like it! So I’m thinking of purchasing a countertop distiller. I can get one for under $300. But it sounds like I would need to really stay on top of keeping the micro nutrients in my soil. How would you recommend going about doing so? Would using a product such as Cal Mag be enough or would my fertilizers such as fish meal balance things out? I’m really at a loss here as to how to navigate this issue.
I would so appreciate your input! Thank you so much for your time
I would just mix in compost into the potting soil and fertilize with all purpose
2 questions: 1) Did you test any filters other than Britta? As,for instance Zero filter. and 2) Does adding vitamin C to the water change the chloride or chloramine levels?
Thanks
Hi Ashley! Thanks for this super informative vid. I'm a southern California resident, all of my plants get tap water (plus a little bit of fertilizer) and they seem to be okay. The only exception are my plants in leca which I give alkaline water to, I was thinking the tap water is too salty for my leca-based plants. Would you say its better to stick with the alkaline water for the leca-based plants, or I'm overthinking it and tap water is as good? 🤔🧐
just stick with regular tap water.:) its semi hydro so its a bit different
Nice! If using Distilled or reverse osmosis water just add water soluble fertilizer! Make sure there is a sufficient amount of Ca and Mg available. Cal-nit and Mag sulfate are great options for adding these essential elements especially in super clean source water.
Distilled water is the same as rainwater ... pure rainwater has no minerals. If it was harmful we would have no thriving plants or trees.
We get our minerals from our food not water. Like the previous poster said rainwater has no nutrients in it and plants flourish.
@@peterburton3095 yes, rainwater is normally super pure. But plants require essential nutrients so they can grow happy and healthy. So unless there is enough of each essential element in the media being used, the nutrients need to come from somewhere.
I use RO water that has a ph+ mineral boost filter from Aquatru. I’ve only used this water on my seedlings and they seem to be doing well
Hi Ashley, wat about pond water? I'd like to give it a try as collecting rain water it's difficult on my balcony. Thanks a lot for all your hard work to educate us 😃
yes! pond water is awesome
@@GardeningInCanada I've just bought a bluelab combo plus hoping that it helps 🙏. Thanks again for opening my mind 😀
I used to water house plants with nothing but tap water, and after a couple years noticed a salt build up on the surface of the soil in the pots. I try to use rainwater now as much as possible, and that seems to alleviate the build up.
Nice, good to know.
Thank you!!!! This has been making me crazy🤪 trying to figure out the best water for my plants. Can you advise me on what is the best water for my GardenTower aeroponic grow tower. I have been using distilled water and I add the minerals supplied by the company. I have had great results, however it is quite costly. I have considered getting an RO system (costly as well). I just ordered a hose end “Boogie Blue Plus” filter that advertises to remove chlorine, VOC’s, pesticides/herbicides. My question is: would this filtered water be okay to use in my Aeroponic Garden? Thank you for providing such precise information.
Filtered water will work just fine. Just keep in mind whenever you’re using other forms of water that are not distilled. They’re naturally going to have calcium and other salts involved. So you may get some buildup. But simply sloughing it off with nice washcloth should get rid of that issue
This is one of the best, most informative videos I’ve seen on this topic! Would you consider doing an episode on my podcast (Autoflower Podcast) to chat about this topic?
Thoughts on using Zero Water Filter? When I test it, it tests 0. Maybe I can alternate between that and my well water that using salt to soften it.
Thx for the scientific truth. Something all of us gardeners need is facts so we can grow great medicine. I noticed ur grow tent in the video and was wondering what beautiful things u have behind the curtain. Presumption maybe 🤔
Right now seedlings HAHA
I trap rain water when available, but use gassed-off chlorine-based tap water as a back up. Also treat tap water with humic acid while gassing of chlorine.
That’s awesome!
Would love to hear what you think about using rain water or melted snow. I have been choosing that over well water or softened well water.
I actually did a video on this! czcams.com/video/rcyKTnen8xM/video.html
I use Brita filtered water sometimes but usually just tap water. There's some liquid (compost tea?) dripping out of my compost tumbler when it rains so I collect that for watering too. Not sure which is better though.
That is a cool idea to use.
Thank you for this!! I was just given a plant and told to only water it with distilled water. Sounded a little fishy to me. 🐠
Glad it helped! Be sure to share :) its my best form of growth.
You cite the study that says chlorine had little effect on plants, and say to leave the top off and it will gas off in 24 hours.
Then you bring up chloramine, and talk about filtering it out, but never say if it is harmful to plants.
Still, a very good and informative presentation.
thank you for the video. how about soft water, tap water that's been filtered by salt tanks? does that make a difference in plants?
it will yes. it can alter the ph
So, my small town has a Reverse Osmosis water treatment plant that services the whole town. That means my tap water and my outside faucets pump out nothing by RO water. Will the water pick up minerals and biology as it percolates through my mulch layers before it gets to the soil?
Oh my goodness! Cadillac community!!! But it can cause leaching over time just make such to add fertilizer and it should be fine. Also if you have clay pipes to the home it’s going to pull from them as well.
Ok… so, I’m confused bc my Begonia, alocasia n Calathea plants say to use distilled water especially the prayer plants. I’ve been using distilled water for most of my plants. Now I don’t know what to use. So many different things that it’s becoming confusing as to what to use or do with our plants. 🥺
Well that because they are salt sensitive plants if you aren’t removing the chlorine you will see negative effects with the tap water. Aim for filtered tap water.
@@GardeningInCanada Thanks for responding! R u saying to stay away from distilled water? I bought 6 gallons of distilled water last week. 😟
Btw… I may not know a lot about soil etc or understand some of what ur saying but I do love listening to ur videos bc I still capture a lot of what ur saying. Love ur channel! ☺️🌱🪴
Buy a zero water filter and your good.
Let's go Riders! Just kidding.
Great info. Thoroughly answering that people may ask before they ask.
I'm using R/O recommended by the garden sage. I do see more issues sometimes. Was thinking of using a little tap from time especially from my hot water cause I get a high ppm from hot water and we have hard water. You're right about consuming to much r/o water. My grandparents had r/o and grandma had osteoporosis. I do like r/o for camping as it tastes good still after a few days.
Haha! ❤️ my dad loves the riders.
@@GardeningInCanada I live by the stadium. So I get to see all the rider fans in their green gear. After games it's either party cheering or dead silence.
Rain water? Did I miss you mentioning it? No, I don't think you did mention it. I was hoping to hear you say something about rain water collected from roof runoff. Is it good? Is it bad? I know it has organic bits in it. I'm collecting it in a galvanized barrel - is that bad?
I do have an whole video just on rainwater czcams.com/video/qxh-y_ib8sk/video.html
@@GardeningInCanada Fantastic! Off I go to learn it all! Thanks Ashley!
Love the video. I have a water softener in my house and I think the elevated Na+ may be affecting my plants health. Will a filter remove the excess sodium as well?
I believe it adds Na and removed CaCO3 but I’d need to look into water softeners more
@@GardeningInCanada after doing more research on my own, most standard filters cannot remove the sodium. Some of the best options I’ve found are installing a bypass valve, collecting rain water or using distilled water or a reverse osmosis system.
Interesting
Thank u for this wonderful knowledge ! A youtuber says that adding vinegar and or Vitamin C tablets helps soften and acidify water for planting. Are these harmful for plants?
Vinegar is deadly in large doses for sure. it all comes down to amount used
I just use tap water. Here in WA state the water here is phenomenal! I use 1 gallon jugs and leave them sit for at least 4 days before using in my garden.
Unrelated... does unsulphered molasses make my soil better for my soil health?
thats awesome! i actually did a video on this czcams.com/video/R56QDN9_rGA/video.html
I only use RO water for my humidifier; however, I also have the option of getting re-mineralized RO water at the place I get my water. Do you think it would be worth buying the re-mineralized RO water, or should I just stick to my regular filtered tap water?
Just use tap water. Honestly the studies I looked at show the levels are so low for chlorine and such it’s going to be hard too justify the added cost
rain water i have 4 collection barrels but i also use a garden inline carbon filter on my garden hose when i wand water
That’s awesome! Exactly what you need
Enligtenment again, more, please, and thank you very much. I urge everyone to take a listen to Scientists, it would help very much these days...
I’m glad you enjoyed it so much. Be sure to share it helps the channel enormously
Great video
Thanks!
@@GardeningInCanada your welcome much love xoxox
I’ve got a water softener system on my home, would the salt from that be bad for my houseplants?
That is possible yea. I would maybe run it through a filter
Hi! I'm really enjoying your channel! Can you point me to the resources you found that claimed monochloramine can be removed with activated carbon filters? What I'm finding is that one needs a catalytic activated carbon filter, which I don't think Brita filters are, to remove monochloramine due to its highly stable nature. There seems to be a lot of confusion on what actually breaks the ammonia and chlorine bond to then gas the chlorine off and even fish stores I think don't recommend using carbon filtered water because the chloramine will kill the fish. I could be wrong. I'm new to plants and still trying to figure this out. Thanks!
It looks like you would need catalytic carbon which is enhanced carbon www.freshwatersystems.com/blogs/blog/how-to-remove-chloramines-from-water
We got perfect tap water for plants here in Northern Norway
My building finds excessive lead in our water system a month ago. My question...if I use non filter to water my edible plants (microgreen, sprout, soil grown, hydroponic, lettuce, tomato, etc), would my plant be OK to consume. I don't know how excessive is the lead in our water, but it was over the city (Toronto)'s recommendation.
We use 1:10 bleach:water to sterilize plants before planting in freshwater aquariums. Chemical de-chlorinator and water is used to rinse and make them safe for the aquarium. Also, chemically de-chlorinated tap is used for freshwater aquarium with plants. My plants grow fast this way.
tap water really depends on location like for instance i would say if you live in Flint Michigan i would suggest you use vodka as a tap water substitute as it would be healthier for them
When there is a chemical spill at a "drinking water plant" they send a team of guys in hazmat suits! That should raise concerns about the quality of tap water
Just came across your videos today! You rock! Thank you very much for all your correct information. I was wondering if you have any thoughts on using fish aquarium water for indoor plants? Keep up your amazing work. Love all I've binge watched today.
Hi! Question; if rain water is similar to distilled water, when the rain falls is it able to pick up nutrients/ minerals/ stuff from the atmosphere on the way down? Or is it lacking those, or picking up bad things as well? Thanks!
It does pick up nutrients and such. I have a video on this actually but it’s a bit older. czcams.com/video/rcyKTnen8xM/video.html
Tap is 7.8 ph so I'll add lemon juice to bring it to 6.
After add 3 teaspoons of 3% hydrogen peroxide to that 1 gallon.
Adds extra oxygen while also removing chlorine.
My plants seem to love it.
that is awesome! they would love the pH neutral water
It's my understanding that some of the mosses don't like tap-water. I've crammed some Irish moss into a few rainfall areas around my home and they seem to be getting along well. Mosses get no respect but they are very hearty and a wonderful yard option for those of us that don't live in California..etc..
Anything in a bog environment will benefit from distilled water because most micronutrients & even macronutrients is leached
Thank you lots...I was so so confused just started buying plants and I didn't know which water to use for my indoor plants I'll keep watching
Glad you enjoyed!
The best waTer to use for plants is nature from my experience. I collect my rainwater and store it indoors during winter here in Michigan and grow marigolds. I have lot of them before anyone because they don't sell them until May because they're so sensitive to frost. I've used spring water and had problems and the worst of course is sink water! Never water your indoor plants in winter with sink water that's the worst. It's very easy to collect rain water from your gutters and put it in gallon jugs 🙂
Heh i think in the States the only guarantee matched to the label is that the fluid includes a modest amount of h20
What do you recommend watering cannabis with. I use rain water or tap water. I use tap water but I add a small amount of Citric acid to LOWER pH to 6.5.
that sounds perfect!
Okay, good information, but a little to much information! I was using rainwater collected from the roof to my rain barrel but now wondering about the things collected along with the rainwater from the roofing shingles, etc.
Also can I use distilled water and feed my houseplants the nutrients they need? If I use spring water I'm not sure how to feed them 😕 🤔 Having a tough time with my Calatheas. Thanks!
yup! that is fine
Where I live the water is considered “extremely hard” with a rating of 278 parts per million or 16 grains per gallon. I usually get lots of buildup of minerals with tap water. I use reversed osmosis and add a liquid fertilizer that has all the nutrients it needs with every watering.
Just found your channel & love it! SO helpful to have a real soil scientist! I live in Florida & just installed a rain barrel. What about rainwater? Some I have collected in buckets just left in the rain, but now with the rain barrel, most comes off my metal roof (don't know the make-up of the metal). I realize there are pollutants in the air, on the roof, etc. but wanted "free" water as I pay dearly for water. And our small town adds softener to the hard water so there must be salts accumulating when watering with water from the hose. In general, what do you think of rainwater for plants? Would love to see a video on this topic as more and more people are using them to help conserve water. Also wonder about using soaker hoses & drip hoses, all made of various plastics, slowly dripping water on our veggie roots (we have a veggie garden). We're doing all these things to conserve water but are we just adding a variety of plasticizers and other chemicals that are then taken up by the plant roots (and then we eat them)?! Thanks so much!
I can do a video on this!
@@GardeningInCanada Can't wait to see it, many thanks!!
All of the water in our house is softened because of the way it is plumbed and a Brita filter will not remove the salt, so we installed a reverse osmosis unit for drinking water. After it is filtered, it has a re-mineralization cartridge, so wouldn’t that add some beneficial minerals back? Also, all the refillable 3 and 5 gallon jugs in the grocery store have reverse osmosis water that also has been re-mineralized. It seemed to me that either of those is a better option than my salt-softened city water. The water pre-softener is SO hard it would leave a terrible crust on everything if the water at my office is any indication.
No so if you have that set up its likely fine
One way to remove chlorine and chloramine is to use water conditioners made for treating aquarium water. If it's good for protecting your fish, it will help your plants that are sensitive to these chemicals. It only takes a very small amount of water conditioner to treat a large amount of water, so not very costly.
Rain water also has very few minerals. The test is to let distilled, rain, and tap waters evaporate on a flat mirror.. Distilled leaves very little residue, Rain leaves a little residue, Tap leaves a lot of residue...
I wonder if the United States have the same water laws?
The tap in Los Angeles is horrible smelling and tastes terrible too.
I have started watching your videos, I have a question about well water and we have a water softener system, can I use this water for watering all plants?
Absolutely you can there’s no issues with that
Would love to know about WELL WATER which is on the harder side.
What about softened water (via softner). Previous owners finished the basement and left the entire water pipes behind the softner. I seeded my lawn (bare spots and established) and i water with softened water. Watering 5-10min 3 times a day. Grass looks fine, but worried long term. I bypass on softner one in a while, though.
I did a soil test kit. Came out with neutral ph, very low n p and k. Very odd. Bought a different brand kit to retest.
Ps the seedlings seem to be healthy as far as i call tell.
My understanding is that very hard waters will make the soil become hydrophobic and then it won't retain water and the plant will die from thirst. I use rainwater because my house water is very hard.
What about well water? Are old pipes bad? Should I get a hose filter? I have a veggie garden and fruits and I am scared to grow food that will make us sick.
If you are getting your soil tested it should be fine.
I don’t know depends on the plant in my experience, something about calcium and magnesium ions and the roots
since chloramine doesn't evaporate like chlorine, will it build up in the soil over time causing issues?
But, if you use RO water, you would of course add a CalMag product before giving it to your plants, devoiding the water of its leaching habit. You would have the correct ratio of calcium and magnesium - which you likely not have from your tap, right?
Just curious, but say a plant is experiencing a nutrient toxicity… would RO water help dissolve and absorb those extra nutrients?
Is there a filter you’d recommend for an outside water tank that also removes flouride?
Berkey bucket
Thanks for the info. Question... what if I boil the tap water and then give it to my plants after it's cooled down? Will it remove only the chlorine or all nutrients?
It will gas off posts of different stuff. It’s hard to say what specifically would be gassed off. But don’t over think it too much it will be fine
@@GardeningInCanada Thank you!
My EC before adding nutes 0.9 in water just water tap that bad ? I need to start 0.0 right cuz I have deficiencies because I can't add enough nutrients my water is already 09 my tap water reading EC ms
My ivy gets crispy leaves but only on the older leaves. Doesn't matter how much I water or wait to water. But I do only use tap water at the moment. I'm gonna try something else and see if it helps but so far nothing has. Note MY ENGLISH IVY IS HUGE
I live in San Diego can I use regular tap water for cannabis plants? Or is it better to declornate?
i would just use the regular old tap water
What if I use distilled water an add azomite b4 I water my plants is that okay .is there any cons by doing that ?
You mentioned in passing the fluoride that is added to some municipal water - how does this impact plants and soil life? Additionally, do you know of any way outside of RO to get rid of it?
Fluoride is a neurotoxin waste by product from aluminium manufacturing. It does not occur naturally. When it's spilt in a water plant hazmat suits must be worn! It dumbs you down and calcifies your brain.
Distilling gets rid of it. The berkey water filter also gets rid of it.
I'm trying to find out if I can flush cannabis plants with distilled water instead of my tap which comes out at 230 or higher?
i mist with deionized water from the top and put the pure carbonate salts of potassium, magnesium and calcium in the drainage dish. i never water until the pot drains; minerals contained.
Nice!
I heard boiling water can get rid of chlorine, can it work for chloramine? Since boiling the mineral didn’t go anywhere right?
So for chloramine it wont unfortunately
Hi, so the plant community is getting so militant over the things others do wrong and now distilled or RO water are the only acceptable solutions for plant watering else the plants die a horrible death. My big problem with this is that it’s economically quite draining. Distilled water is expensive (I have a lot of plants and would need gallons every week in summer) and RO even small filters are expensive, last only that long and waste a lot of water in the process. I was only considering RO because I have very hard water here and you can actually see the calcium on top of my soil. So I’ve been worried a bit about acidity levels in my soil (have a lot of acidity loving plants) and/or the plants ability to uptake nutrients as limescale in soil should inhibit that.
Does occasional shower in the tub to flush the soil help getting rid of the mineral/salt buildup? Should I add a dash of vinegar to my water to lower the PH , would that help? I don’t like the idea of RO water and to keep adding minerals and fertiliser to each watering so that I can water with this pristine artificially and expensively made water
You always want to have a good flush of the soil, i would not waste money on RO or distilled. if you wanted to spend cash on water i would aim for carbonated spring water.
@@GardeningInCanada thanks! And what about flushing and showering the plants in the tub. I see people do it but won’t the chlorine in water damage the roots?
no its rarely enough to cause issues
Amazing video! Very helpful! What about softened water? How would that affect the plants?