Storing rain water
 

Hey all,

Should I have any concerns about keeping rain water stored over winter for
the orchids? I keep it in the same room and covered. No bad odors but it
does have a slight green tinge.

Thanks.

Mark

Storing rain water
 

Mark_OK wrote:
Hey all,

Should I have any concerns about keeping rain water stored over winter
for the orchids? I keep it in the same room and covered. No bad odors
but it does have a slight green tinge.

Thanks.

Mark



Mark-

I kept water in a 150 gallon tank in the basement over the winter for
years. As long as it isn't getting any light (solid container with lid,
nothing transparent/translucent) and was clean going in, it'll easily
last the winter. A little green from algae won't hurt. If it starts to
smell rotten, I wouldn't use it any more.

I have had a problem this year with the water turning black, stinky, and
oily now that it's kept in the GH. Still no light getting in, but I have
had to empty, scrub and bleach it twice now. Despite putting a little
physan in to keep it sterile. Go figure....

Storing rain water
 

I used to collect rain water in the fall and store it in gallon milk
jugs for use over the winter. They were stored about 10 feet from the
grow lights in my basement. A few of them would turn slightly green but
that did not seem to be a problem.
I stopped collecting rain water when I found out a friend had a TDS
meter. Distilled water gave a reading of zero, my rain water gave a
reading of 4 and, as I recall, my tap water gave a reading of 11. It
turns out I was wasting my time collecting rain.

Steve


Mark_OK wrote:
Hey all,

Should I have any concerns about keeping rain water stored over winter
for the orchids? I keep it in the same room and covered. No bad odors
but it does have a slight green tinge.

Thanks.

Mark

Storing rain water
 

Thanks for the responses.
I don't remember the TDS of our city water but a couple years ago I put a
misting system on a timer when the temps were forecast over 100 deg. for
several weeks and the plants were just coated with mineral spots. I was a
real pain to get them cleaned up. I'm expanding my rain harvesting for next
year and going to use it for misting.

Thanks again and Merry Christmas.

"Steve" wrote in message
...
I used to collect rain water in the fall and store it in gallon milk jugs
for use over the winter. They were stored about 10 feet from the grow
lights in my basement. A few of them would turn slightly green but that
did not seem to be a problem.
I stopped collecting rain water when I found out a friend had a TDS meter.
Distilled water gave a reading of zero, my rain water gave a reading of 4
and, as I recall, my tap water gave a reading of 11. It turns out I was
wasting my time collecting rain.

Steve


Mark_OK wrote:
Hey all,

Should I have any concerns about keeping rain water stored over winter
for the orchids? I keep it in the same room and covered. No bad odors
but it does have a slight green tinge.

Thanks.

Mark

Storing rain water
 

Steve wrote:
I used to collect rain water in the fall and store it in gallon milk
jugs for use over the winter. They were stored about 10 feet from the
grow lights in my basement. A few of them would turn slightly green but
that did not seem to be a problem.
I stopped collecting rain water when I found out a friend had a TDS
meter. Distilled water gave a reading of zero, my rain water gave a
reading of 4 and, as I recall, my tap water gave a reading of 11. It
turns out I was wasting my time collecting rain.

Steve


I have been testing my TDS levels since I began trying to grow disas,
some eight or so years ago. My tap read 467 when I started, and the
rainwater read 11. Now they seem to have done something good to the tap
water and it runs around 210-220. The rainwater still reads 11. So I can
use the tap water whenever I need to if the rainwater runs low and save
that for the disas.

Just now I came in from the GH where I was listening to a heavy rain
beat on the roof. I enjoy the rain sounds, and the rainwater tanks are
overflowing, excess water seeping down into the gravel as designed.

Нow much water do you realy want to save? to me unless you are getting a good supply of rain fall in which case saving water for dryer periods may not be that advantagous, then small drums aren't going to stay full for long.

Storing rain water
 

I keep my plants indoors under lights in the winter and it is easier to keep
the humidity up so less watering. In the summer they are outside in a shade
house.

Average rainfall in my part of Oklahoma is 34 in. This year 53 in.

Last month we got .34 of precip.

In the summer I collect with two 55 gal. barrels. A couple weeks of 100+
temps they go fast.
In the winter I have two 32 gal. barrels on wheels that I can roll out and
bring back in to keep them from freezing.

My wife just shakes her head at how much time and effort I put into these
plants. But she sure does enjoy the show they put on.

"johnpierce79" wrote in message
...

Нow much water do you realy want to save? to me unless you are
getting a good supply of rain fall in which case saving water for dryer
periods may not be that advantagous, then small drums aren't going to
stay full for long.




--
johnpierce79

Storing rain water
 

On Dec 26, 9:05*am, "Mark_OK" wrote:
I keep my plants indoors under lights in the winter and it is easier to keep
the humidity up so less watering. In the summer they are outside in a shade
house.

Average rainfall in my part of Oklahoma is 34 in. This year 53 in.

Last month we got .34 of precip.

In the summer I collect with two 55 gal. barrels. A couple weeks of 100+
temps they go fast.
In the winter I have two 32 gal. barrels on wheels that I can roll out and
bring back in to keep them from freezing.

My wife just shakes her head at how much time and effort I put into these
plants. But she sure does enjoy the show they put on.

"johnpierce79" wrote in message

...



Нow much water do you realy want to save? to me unless you are
getting a good supply of rain fall in which case saving water for dryer
periods may not be that advantagous, then small drums aren't going to
stay full for long.

--
johnpierce79

Rainwater collection technology is rapidly advancing. This may not be
applicable for orchid growers, but Aquascapes has introduced a new
rainwater collection system that is tied to pondless water features in
the garden. I saw the system demonstrated at Walt Disney World's
Epcot theme park this spring and it looks promising for gardeners.
Here is a link with more information:

http://www.lawnandgardenwv.com/digne...n+Prototy pe/

John Denson
Cattleya Wiki - http://cattleya.wikidot.com/
Orchid Blog - http://cattleyasource.blogspot.com/