Water softener bad for my Phal?

[mammomom42]

My daughter bough me a white Phalaenopsis a couple of days ago. It has 2 flowers in bloom and 2 buds. I noticed that the medium was dry so I watered it. Now I see the buds turning yellow. After reading some posts regarding Phals I read that either change in environment or lack of air to roots will do this. I do have a water softener at home. Will that affect my plant? There are 4 green leaves and they seem to be yellowing a little. I have the plant in my bathroom which is sunny in the afternoon. It is in a plastice container within a clay pot. Should I take it out of the plastic container? Any advice will help.
Thanks

[dennis]

the softener is a big no no the water contains salt. a lot of things can cause bud blast. check the root system and try cynthias method on seeing if the media is dry or not.also where are you located it could be to much sun on the plant they do not like a lot of light a east window or a filtered south window is good. a west window could burn the plant when the sun gets into the afternoon time. if you have a ro setup on your softener use that water or you could try to collect rainwater, not alot of nutrients in either but a much better choice than softened water

[kmarch]

Dear mammomom,

Welcome to the forum. Dennis posted an excellent article on how to repot an orchid. Give it a read and repot your Phal (Phals are monopodial). Do not re-use mix, get some fresh mix and give the roots a good rinse to remove any salt residue from the softened water. If the Phal is the only orchid you have, you could probably buy spring water (non-carbonated) from your grocery to water it. That would'nt be too expensive. Or if you have a kitchen tap that is not softened water, you could use that.

Since I and so many others (as you have read) have had bud drop when a new Phal is broght home, I would not worry about that. If you get your Phal in mew fresh mix and avoid the softened water, it very well could bloom nicely for you next year.

Cheers,

-Kevin

[pikevi]

Hi,

I use bottled spring water for the orchids. Is that alright?

Thanks.

[dennis]

it should be fine. as in ro water or rain water from what i have been reading is that there are not alot of nutrients in these as they are close to being "pure" that is why i put the links on about the fertilizer and the calculator on here so you can get a balanced sorce of nutrition to the plants.From what i have seen in most stores that spring water is actually ro water just called spring water not saying that yours is. i would think that real spring water would carry more of the nutrients that the ro would take out

[mammomom42]

Thank you all for your advice. I will definitely stop watering my orchid (as well as all my other plants) with softened water. I will also try to repot my orchid. I guess I have lots to learn in regards to orchid care.

[kmarch]

Dear pikevi,

Yea, bottled spring water is fine. I used to buy it in those big 2 or 3 gallon plastic jugs with the tap. I used to water my besseaes with it. Just make sure it's not the fizzy kind. I'd mix it with fertilizer and use it just like rain or tap water.

-K

[pikevi]

Thanks dennis, Kevin..

I must have read it somewhere to have switched to bottled water( I wait for a 'sale' ).

I will keep using it for now but I will have to think of some alternative since the number of orchids is growing exponentially.