Tap water and Phalaenopsis

[jvasel]

I undestand that tap water shouldn't be used to water most orchids because of the chemicals in them, especially chlorine. I don't have access to much other than tap water so, would boiling the water for a while and then letting it cool to room temp before watering be a good way to rid some of the chlorine and other things from the water?

Thanks

put your tap water in an open container overnight, by morning most or all of the chlorine will have dissapated into the air. no need to boil

put your tap water in an open container overnight, by morning most or all of thew chlorine will have dissapated into the air. no need to boil

[jvasel]

Thanks for the tip! I appreciate it.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Too much trouble. How about one of those charcoal canisters that attaches to the end of your faucet. Then you can do the 'round n round' thing under the faucet thing to water your orchids. Cynthia, Prescott, AZ

[jvasel]

Where can I purchase one of those? And are they expensive?

[jerrymeola]

Activated charcoal filters are not very effective in removing cholrine. The absorbtion factor is almost zero after a few minutes use. It is more advertising hype than efective.

I used to own a tropical fish importing firm. Chlorine was a major problem when you used 10,000 gallons of water a day (New Jersey water, where the chlorine was treated with ammonia to remain in water longer). All the major manufacturers sold activate charcoal filters, but they would admit to me their tests showed a mere 15 minutes exposed to air saturated the charcoal. It did have value for growing helpful bacterias, but not for removing chlorine.

sodium thiosulfate dissolved at the rate of 1 ounce per gallon for a stock solution is an immediate removal of cholrine. Use ONE DROP of the stock solution to neutralise the chlorine in one gallon of water. The reaction is almost instantaneous. Over the years, I put over 8 million dollars of fish in water treated this way so it works.

Sodium thiosulfate was the black and white photographers fixation solution to preserve black and white prints in darkroom work. You may still be able to find it in some better camera stores or certainly in a chemicals supply compant.

Leaving it out overnight is effective for all but the most heavily chlorinated water when fortified with ammonia. New Orleans water from the Mississippi would kill fish even after a week of airation.

Most parts of the country the level of chlorine is low enough not to effect plants when watered directly from the tap. Chlorine is also removed with airation and if you water through a sprayer it removes much of the chlorine.

[jvasel]

Thanks! I live in west central Wisconsin so I'll probably just airate the chlorine out. Thanks again for all your help!

[jumbojimmy]

oh no! i wish this thread was posted earlier! yesterday i watered my phal with lukewarm water from the tap!

will my plant going to die and get distorted?

[Ellen]

I water all my orchids, phals included, with regular fresh tap water and have never seen any ill effects. Admittedly, I live in an area that has good water (so far), with way less chlorine than many places. The best strategy is to just try the easiest way and, if it seems to be harming your plants, switch to some other method. If the plants seem OK, go with the easy way. There are drops that you can put in aquarium water to remove the chlorine - has anyone tried this for conditioning orchid water?

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Well Jerry, I guess all those charcoal filters they put in RO systems to protect the membranes are a waste of time and money, and most RO membranes are going to die a very early death. Years ago I used to use the faucet end charcoal filters and they worked quite well, we could taste the difference, but I guess that was before ammonia started being used. We are on a well now, so no clorine, but I keep the charcoal canister for my RO system handy to install when work is done on my well, and they throw a bunch of clorine tablets down the well for a one shot cleanup. But I assume this is probably a more easy form of clorine to remove with filtering. Cynthia, Prescott, AZ