Yvonne wrote:

Hi!
This may seem like a ridiculous question, but I have an elderly friend who
likes to ask strange questions sometimes.

For some obscure reason, he wonders if watering a garden with boiling (I
think he means boiled) water is useful for the garden or not? I add that
the water would be cooled first to avoid scalding the plants.

The idea may be that boiling the water may remove some or all of the
nutrients, thus rendering the water of absolutely no use to the plants at
all! Are the plants watered just to wet them, or is it a means of
providing them with food? Or should I look for some scientific forum in
which to ask this question?

TIA for any opinions or knowledge anyone may have to offer on this enigma.
Yvonne. (p.s. pls reply to group as email address is fictitious)

I've heard of people using boiling water as a natural weed killer.

Water is obviously an essential ingredient in growing plants, along with
light and micronutrients.

About 98% of a plant are macronutrients which include hydrogen,
oxygen,carbon & nitrogren. Hydrogen and oxygen comes from water(H20);
carbon from transpiration (plants breathe in carbon dixoide C02 and breath
out oxygen 02); and nitrogrn comes from the air (air is 80% nitrogen) or
thru the roots via fertiliser or nitrogren fixing bateria. Sulphur &
Potassium are macronutirents too.

Plant micronutrients include iron, zinc, copper and chlorine which are
present in trace amounts in the water that comes out of our tap, or from
artesian water under the ground. In some parts of the Great Artesian Basin
the mineral content is too high, and I know of one large commercial
vegetable farm west of Brisbane that "demineralises" its artesian water.

So boiling water may remove some of the micronurtients what will form a
crust in the kettle. But is perfectly ok for garden use.

gtoomey