Water question?

[Hortman]

I was asked these questions by someone with whom I was discussing the need for distilled water for watering CPs. She asked me: does a water purifier (i.e. Brita, or other brand) remove enough nutrients? Would water removed from the air by as dehumidifier qualify as nutrinet free?

Anyone?

 

[adnedarn]

No, brita and such filtration devices don't remove minerals... Or at least not to the extent that we need.
It only makes sense that water removed from the air such as dehumidifiers and Air conditioners would be nutrient free. But I recently ran a hose from my ac to my bucket of which water is pulled for my fogger in the g/h. And this water according to my PPM meter is not so clean. It actually has like 120 PPM of TDS. Now that isn't terrible... but isn't clean either.
Andrew

 

[aprilh]

Yeah, but...in the wild, CP's are watered by rain and ground water. Is rain clean of tds? Ground water? The ground water in most areas, I would think, is loaded with all sorts of undesirable elements....chemical fertilisers, weed n feed, heavy metals, road run-off, etc.

Just curious. I'm wondering if they aren't hardier than I think they are...though I do water only with rain-water and distilled water that I buy at the store.

 

[endparenthesis]

I imagine it's the buildup in the medium that's the main problem. Think how much one would have to water a plant in order to flush it like a typical rain storm would.

 

[SarraceniaScott]

Quote[/b] (endparenthesis @ June 15 2005,1:13)]I imagine it's the buildup in the medium that's the main problem. Think how much one would have to water a plant in order to flush it like a typical rain storm would.

Exactly.  If you top-watered your plants every day, fully flushing out the medium, you probably could get away with using hard (non-chlorinated) water.  But unless you have a very small collection, that quickly becomes very labor intensive.

Most people i know with large collections keep their plants on the tray method, and dissolved salts would quickly build to lethal levels if one were using hard water.

 

[Hortman]

What is TDS?

Thoroughly Disgusting Stuff?

 

[scottychaos]

Quote[/b] (Hortman @ June 15 2005,3:18)]What is TDS?

Thoroughly Disgusting Stuff?

yep!
but it also stands for "Total Dissolved Solids"

Scot

 

[jimscott]

Quote[/b] (aprilh @ June 14 2005,11:50)]Yeah, but...in the wild, CP's are watered by rain and ground water.  Is rain clean of tds?  Ground water?  The ground water in most areas, I would think, is loaded with all sorts of undesirable elements....chemical fertilisers, weed n feed, heavy metals, road run-off, etc.  

Just curious.  I'm wondering if they aren't hardier than I think they are...though I do water only with rain-water and distilled water that I buy at the store.

From what I know at the lab, being in the Metals Department, groundwater samples, collected from monitoring wells, often have measurable concentrations of metallic salts (calcium, magnesium, manganese, and potassium).

 

[Wesley]

I have never had problems with my groundwater, and my dad is a christmas tree grower. I have been watering my plants with our groundwater for 2-3 yrs and no problems have arisen. I am afraid to test my water for fear of it telling me something I don't want to know about the water I drink... LOL But from what I can tell you, I have some the best drinking water around!