More on Water
RSbra123@aol.com
Tue, 15 Oct 1996 23:35:49 -0400
>> On a more general note - would anyone care to pass on their experiences in
>> respect to treating water for general CP use? My hothouse has an overhead
>> misting/fogging system installed, but I am presently using untreated
>> town's water. My plants appear healthy enough . . .
>
>It depends on the sort of water you have, it's not the chlorine that
>is the problem but the solids that are dissolved in the water like
>salt which will harm CPs. If you have very soft water, the type
>that isn't softened by a machine or chemicals!!!, then you may be
>able to use this water... However, if you're like most of us, then
>you'll need some other supply for pure water. You can use some tap
>water but periodically flush out your pots with some rain so the level
>of salt and other stuff will stay low enough so as not to harm the plants.
>Drosera, VFT have low tolerance to tap water. Nepenthes, Sarracenia
>have high tolerance.
>
>> Rain water would be fine during the wet season but I would
>> need an enormous reservatory to cater for the long dry season.
>
>Just store enough so you can flush out the pots every couple weeks
>(three is probably good).
In addition:
You can buy a reverse-osmosis water filter for about $200, I think. In my
area there are vending machines that sell purified water for $ .25 a gallon.
Peter D'Amato says that water with less than 100 parts per million (PPM)
total desolved solids (TDS) should be ok for CPs. Your local water dept.
should be able to tell you what your tap water is, or you can have it tested.
It probably fluctuates thoughout the year. Mine does. You can buy a TDS
meter for $35 or so and test it yourself if your water goes in and out of the
range.
You'd be surprised at the amount of desolvable solids in peat and sand, even
(I should say especially) in 'horticulture sand' bought at a nursery. I've
measured 1000+ PPM in purified water/sand mixtures. To be safe I rinse
both peat and sand thoroughly before planting CPs.
Ron Sbragia