Is bottled spring water ok for my phals ?

[garyorchids]

hi all. i've read that tap water is not ideal for orchids and rain water is probably the best water to use. i am using bottled spring water for my plants, is this water ok to use ?

[Ladyofthelakes]

Good question Gary, I have wondered the same thing.

I have a well and use that, no chemicals, it would seem that well water is good.

Vivienne

[E-Jag]

Gary, what you heard about tap water isn't true, for the most part. Probably the majority of the folks on this forum, including me, use tap. If the tap isn't fit for orchids, it probably isn't fit for human consumption, either. Regardless, tap is fine; if you're concerned, fill up a container and let it sit for a day or two.

[-k-]

As E-Jag stated, tap water is fine to use for watering
When it comes to bottled water / spring water, I have not had any problems using this type of water source. Generally I use bottled water or reverse osmosis water once every 4th watering to help flush out minerals from tap water and fert usage.
Hope this helps some.

[garyorchids]

i have read that the added chemicals in tap water are not ideal. i suspect that a regular flushing will resolve this problem. as i have a good friend that bottles mineral water i think i will stick with that for a while. he has a regular analysis of the water and the properties seem favourable.

[11Orchid126]

As far as bottled water goes, spring water can be from any spring, anywhere, and can contain anything (It's better than artificially softened tap water); purified water is R/O water (reverse osmosis) and is practically, but not completely, pure; distilled water is absolutely pure water.

What you probably heard about tap water is that often the TDS in it is high. TDS stands for totally disolved solids. If the TDS in the water is high, and then fertilizer is added to it, the water becomes very strong. In most cases tap water is perfectly fine to use.

[katrina]

I'd like to add...there are a couple of exceptions. Plants that do not seem to do quite as well w/tap due to extreme sensitivity to salts are Phragmipedium, most (if not all) in the Pleurothallid Alliance and Coelogyne.

The above do better in rain, distilled or reverse osmosis water. I'm not sure if well water would be ok for these or not.

I've found all the other orchids I grow to be as the others have said...just fine w/tap water. That's not to say that rain water wouldn't be better but tap water doesn't appear to have caused any problems at all.

[garyorchids]

thanks for the imput, it seems that tap water is ok to use if the plant is flushed regularly. as for feeding i think tap water is a no no, so at feeding intervals i wil water/flush with spring/mineral water then feed with a suitable spring water solution.

[lmartiny]

I use tap water. Seems like bottled spring water would get expensive.

[NicC]

municipal tap water comes from rivers, wells and/or springs. It has whatever inorganic salts that are in the watershed, particularly calcium salts. The only thing added is something to kill bugs. This traditionally was gaseous chlorine but more recently they use chlorine products that are not gas and therefore do not evaporate on standing. These are probably harmless to plants.
You said you use mineral water. That is a special kind of (usually) spring water that has a lot of salt in it, again mostly calcium salts but probably a fair amount of magnesium and others. I would not use mineral water on my orchids.
You can find out what is in your municipal water by asking. They usually do not report TDS since it changes all the time but they have the number. You need to get to one of the water scientists or technicians to find out but the must tell you.
Well water is like city water and includes whatever it can dissolve in the water table.
A rule of thumb is, if your water is considered "hard" (does not make good lather) it is less good for orchids; if not it is OK.
I agree some are very sensitive to any salts (see comments above) for these I use distilled water and an appropriate fertilizer for distilled (or RO) water.
Nick

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by garyorchids

i have read that the added chemicals in tap water are not ideal.

As others have correctly stated, this is not true. The most common additives in tap water, Chlorine and Fluoride are not detrimental to orchids in the levels found in tap water. Buying bottles of spring water is not necessary. Most of us water with tap water.

[katrina]

If it's a plant that gets tap water...then it also get fertilized w/tap water.

[Tarad]

I use tap water as well. Tara

[Ray]

In some communities, tap water is actually purer than bottle spring water from elsewhere!

[Leathal]

With everyone using Tap water, do people not have a water softener? I just realized (I think), that when I am using the outside spicket on the house, it causes the pump to go on, so I think I have been watering with my soft water. I have another well in the back yard that I watered with this morning. I am really getting confused as to which one I should be using.

[garyorchids]

tap water it will be from now on then, that will make things a little easier, especially flushing ! i will flush once a month with distilled water though to remove any salt or chemical build up. thanks for all your replies

[NicC]

Originally Posted by Leathal

With everyone using Tap water, do people not have a water softener? I just realized (I think), that when I am using the outside spicket on the house, it causes the pump to go on, so I think I have been watering with my soft water. I have another well in the back yard that I watered with this morning. I am really getting confused as to which one I should be using.

If your household water is "softened" it probably is replacing the calcium salts with sodium chloride (table salt) and this much salt is bad for orchids and possibly some people (those with high blood pressure or prone to congestive heart failure.) You should know if this is the case since the homeowner frequently is the one to charge the softener with rock salt. There are other softener systems out there that donot use salt but are more expensive.
If you have one of the sodium chloride exchange softener you could use water from the spigot they put in front of the tanks but your well water may be so "hard" as to make you want to use distilled water or get a small reverse osmosis system exclusively for your plants.
Nick

[mytwogirls]

Originally Posted by kmarch

As others have correctly stated, this is not true. The most common additives in tap water, Chlorine and Fluoride are not detrimental to orchids in the levels found in tap water. Buying bottles of spring water is not necessary. Most of us water with tap water.

Exactly! Well said!

[LouisW]

I agree for the most part BUT, I have tap water with very high levels of calcium and other minerals. These minerals cause buildup on fixtures and they also build up in plant media unless flushed out regularly. I have experienced a lot of leaf tip browning due to this and im sure if I had let it get really bad it might have started causing worse damage.

Also just as another example: I went to Visit Harry Zelenko and his collection of about 6000 plants. He said the moment he put filtration in his water system the plants perked up and flowering increased. On the other hand the water in Quito, Ecuador may not be up to standards held in the US and I didn't Drink it. Just a thought.