As a newbie, I am hoping for advice from some you old CP hands...
My tap water is very soft. General hardness is usually less than 2 degrees
(about 30 ppm) and carbonate harness is about 1 degree. Can I safely
use my tap water on CPs? (I understand that Nepenthes don't mind some
hardness, but what about Sarracenias, Cephalotus, Heliamphora, etc.?)
Obviously, if I can get away with using my tap water rather than buying
distilled water, I would prefer to.
A related question concerns pH: despite my water being soft, it usually
has a high pH--about 9.0 or so as it comes from the tap. (I suspect it
is treated to raise the pH.) Since it has very little buffering capacity,
my assumption is that the high pH shouldn't be a problem--once in contact
with the growing medium it should become more acid. Is my assumption
wrong?
If you are a CP grower in the San Francisco bay area and receive
Hetch-Hetchy water, I'd be particularly interested in your experiences
since we share the same water. (By the way, I am aware that our water
can dramatically shift in hardness at times, but I think I can
keep on top of that.)
Thanks in advance for any thoughts,
Brooke