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Thread: RO water, Rain water, Tap water

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  1. #1
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    drew craft
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    Post RO water, Rain water, Tap water

    What do most of you growers prefer/use? RO, Rain water, tap water. Also what would be the benefits of either or. Obviously one benefit of tap water would be availability, are there others? Where can you find RO water in bulk(non bottled water?)

  2. #2
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    Don Keim
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    I make my own R.O. water with a unit., It only makes about 4 gal. a day but that is more than I need. I like it for plants requiring pristine water such as Masd. and Dracula. However, the Catts. get tap water that has been swirling around in a 125 gal. horse trough full of goldfish. I have found that R.O. water along with the fertilizer I was using (Michigan State) was causing deformed/incomplete blossoms on the Catts. After switching to the 'fish' water with a hardness of 8.0 the results on the Catts. is striking.

  3. #3
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    Jordan Healey
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    on the contrary don, i use whatever water comes for my orchids, mostly masdevallias and assorted pleuros. usually tap water as we are in a droght and rain water is hard to come by, but i have found that my masdevallias require just the right light space to flower, no fert, no special water requirements, just random watering etc...
    but, whatever floats your boat i spose, some methods work better for others, and dont work at all for some.

  4. #4
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    Don Keim
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    This partially depends on your ground water quality. My ground water has a pH of 8.5 and is hard as as rock. Not only is fertilizer hardly absorbed with this pH, the calcium build-up is phenomenal.

  5. #5
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    I try to stay away from straight tap because of the calcium build up but when out of rain no choice .
    If getting low on rain water tap is added to it . a TDS. meter is used when adding MSU to see what is going on .. I have an Ro. unit the water is used on the picky ones

  6. #6
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    I use RO water because my tap water is not only incredibly hard (so major mineral build up) but it is also fluoridated and living in an apt makes harvesting and storing rainwater impossible. The grocery store I go to has an RO water dispenser so the cost is reasonable.

  7. #7
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    Kathi
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    Dallas's water is considered to be "moderately hard," whatever that means. I use rain water when I can, and tap water the rest of the time. I think I will buy a rainbarrel this spring, to make that easier.

  8. #8
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    drew craft
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    Sounds good I appreciate all the good information. Our water is also hard with a p.h. of 8 and the calcium is very high due the limestone sediments from an artesian well deep underground in florida (600 ft). I have been using tap water and very low dose of "superthrive" (1 drop/gal) as well as 1/4 strength fertilizer. i havent had my water tested but i am seriously thinking that the total suspended solids in it is too much for the plants to process so I have backed of the fertilizer to once a month. what are your thoughts on frequency of fertilizer with you guys, and gals, that use tap water?

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