Nepenthes and tap water?

[curtisconners]

Hey all,

I have heard of people using tap water with nepenthes before. I was wondering if any of you have tried this and what your experience was.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Grey Moss]

The water in my area usually between 100-150 ppm. I've used it to water my plants for the entire time I've grown carnivorous plants. I haven't noticed it having any effect on any of the plants I've grown, nepenthes included. One thing about our water supply is that it does not have flouride added, which would probably have an effect on usability for plants. What's the ppm like in your area?

 

[nimbulan]

Tap water is often fine for Nepenthes, but tap water quality varies widely between locations. Do you know what the TDS of your water is? I've been using tap water on all my CPs lately, but it's only 35-40 TDS.

 

[hcarlton]

The use of tap water for any carnivores is based on the added chemicals and ppm in your local area. Plenty of people do use tap water, either for the hardier plants like Nepenthes (with a good soil flush every now and then) or if they're lucky for all their plants, but others like myself have tap that is way too hard for any carnivore.

 

[Stranger]

Works fine for the neps I leave outside, I think my tap water is around 50-60 ppm but I haven't checked in a while. Still use RO water for the greenhouse though, I've got sphagnum growing in there.

 

[curtisconners]

I am unsure of my tds, but I always de-chlorinate my tap water for changing out my fish tank. Does anyone know of a resource for finding out my ads? I'm in central Ohio if that helps.

 

[nimbulan]

You can check this map, though it shows an average for each zip code and your tap water could be significantly different. For instance with my zip code, it shows the average being twice what my TDS meter indicates. Total Dissolved Solids

The ideal thing would be to buy a TDS meter, which you can get on Amazon for <$20.

 

[curtisconners]

Thank you, nimbulan. The map says 198.4 tds, assuming that's about double the real amount that's ~100 tds. I'll look into a tds meter, thanks.

 

[nimbulan]

Don't assume anything! When I say that my tap reads half the average for my zip code - it's just as likely for someone who lives in the area to have double the reading on the map. Water quality can vary depending on the time of year as well. During the dry season, it's more likely your water company is tapping into less pure ground water.

 

[curtisconners]

I was going to use the tds meter no matter what. It was just meant as speculation until I get the tds meter and I was never going to use it on my neps until then. By the way, do you know of a good tds meter? Thanks.

 

[nimbulan]

I have this one: Amazon.com: HM Digital TDS-EZ Water Quality TDS Tester, 0-9990 ppm Measurement Range , 1 ppm Resolution, +/- 3% Readout Accuracy: Home Improvement

There are other models that do automatic temperature adjustment (I believe these are generally calibrated to be accurate at 70F) but I just went for the basic one.

 

[FLTropical]

I use tap only on my neps. They actually seem to respond with new growth, especially if I've been using rain water for a while prior to using tap. However, the media (lfs) breaks down much faster with tap than rainwater.

 

[curtisconners]

Thank you, nimbulan. [MENTION=12088]FLTropical[/MENTION] thanks for telling me about that as I also use lfs for my nepenthes.

 

[pearldiver]

A bit off topic, perhaps, but it rained here today and yesterday!! Actual rain, in more than trace amounts. The first real rain in over a month.