Phil L wrote:
keith ;-) wrote:
[...]
You are wrong saying hardness/softness is of no importance to
plants.Most if not all plants would prefer rain water obviously
to
tap water. The OP was referring to nepanthes & orchids which
definitely prefer rainwater,hard/alkaline water can lock up
important minerals,so the plant would suffer over time.
Keith

Call me an old cynic but water is water! - and I said I doubt if
any
plants could care either way, how can dissolved calcium and
magnesium
be of any detriment to a plant? - it either utilises them or it
doesn't, unless they are active poisons to a plant I can't see how
they would suffer.

Depends how you define poison: on one crude definition, lime _is_
poison to some plants, for the reason keith mentioned.

--
Mike.

In article , keith ;-) ?@?.?
writes
Don't you find top posting easier to read,I click reply to post ,type my
message & click send! its that easy.

Whatever your preference, the convention in this ng is 'bottom' or in-
line posting, with appropriate snipping, which allows you to answer each
point as it is made.

You are wrong saying hardness/softness is of no importance to plants.Most if
not all plants would prefer rain water obviously to tap water.

I'm not sure it's necessarily that obvious, or 'most if not all'.

The OP was
referring to nepanthes & orchids which definitely prefer
rainwater,hard/alkaline water can lock up important minerals,so the plant
would suffer over time.


--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

In article , Phil L
writes

Call me an old cynic but water is water! - and I said I doubt if any plants
could care either way, how can dissolved calcium and magnesium be of any
detriment to a plant? - it either utilises them or it doesn't, unless they
are active poisons to a plant I can't see how they would suffer.

As Keith said, the calcium can lock up necessary minerals, (IIRC iron).
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

"keith ;-)" wrote in message
...
You could buy a water softener, or leave the tap water to stand in
buckets/watering cans for a few days which reduces some of the shit in the
water we recieve.


it wont affect the hardness at all.

--
Tumbleweed

email replies not necessary but to contact use;
tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com

"Kay" wrote in message
...
In article , keith ;-) ?@?.?
writes
Don't you find top posting easier to read,I click reply to post ,type my
message & click send! its that easy.

Whatever your preference, the convention in this ng is 'bottom' or in-
line posting, with appropriate snipping, which allows you to answer each
point as it is made.

You are wrong saying hardness/softness is of no importance to plants.Most
if
not all plants would prefer rain water obviously to tap water.

I'm not sure it's necessarily that obvious, or 'most if not all'.

The OP was
referring to nepanthes & orchids which definitely prefer
rainwater,hard/alkaline water can lock up important minerals,so the plant
would suffer over time.


--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"


Posting etiquette aside, anyone know how to soften tapwater? ;O)
Defrosting freezer - mine doesn't frost up ever.
Letting tapwater stand - doesn't actually soften it.
Brittas filter - apparently does sod all as far as plants are concerned.
Iron water - never heard of it - what is it, and where can it be purchased.
I wonder if it's the same as car battery water. I had a pitcher plant that I
watered with this a few years ago. Maybe I should look into that again. I
thought it was rather expensive for water, and I wasn't entirely sure if it
was suitable...
Matt

On 18/7/05 21:01, in article ,
"Matt Durkin" wrote:

snip
Iron water - never heard of it - what is it, and where can it be purchased.
snip

Distilled water and from the chemist. Washing soda is used to soften water
but whether that is suitable for your purpose, I don't know.
"Washing soda is sodium carbonate.
Adding sodium carbonate to hard water
will precipitate insoluble calcium carbonate or magnesium carbonate.
This is a way of removing permanent hardness from water."
http://www.gcsechemistry.com/f5.htm

--

Sacha
(remove the weeds for email)

I am taking the p### about top posting, I mostly forget as you have to mess
about deleting lines etc.I will of course do my best to remember & keep the
message flowing nicely!
Thanks Keith
Phil L it really does matter about the water,continues tap water to a
orchid or bog plant/ acid lovers could seriously harm the plants over
time.For short periods is o.k ,but long term not.
"Kay" wrote in message
...
In article , keith ;-) ?@?.?
writes
Don't you find top posting easier to read,I click reply to post ,type
my
message & click send! its that easy.

Whatever your preference, the convention in this ng is 'bottom' or in-
line posting, with appropriate snipping, which allows you to answer each
point as it is made.

You are wrong saying hardness/softness is of no importance to plants.Most
if
not all plants would prefer rain water obviously to tap water.

I'm not sure it's necessarily that obvious, or 'most if not all'.

The OP was
referring to nepanthes & orchids which definitely prefer
rainwater,hard/alkaline water can lock up important minerals,so the plant
would suffer over time.


--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

On Sun, 17 Jul 2005 22:31:50 GMT, "Phil L"
wrote:


Call me an old cynic but water is water! - and I said I doubt if any plants
could care either way, how can dissolved calcium and magnesium be of any
detriment to a plant? - it either utilises them or it doesn't, unless they
are active poisons to a plant I can't see how they would suffer.

AFAIK, small amounts of dissolved calcium and magnesium aren't
themselves harmful to the majority of plants (or any?). It's the high
pH that often (but not always) accompanies them that renders
insoluble, other important elements (mainly iron and manganese) in the
soil or compost and hence unavailable to certain plants that need more
than other types (ericaceous plants are the obvious example). So the
plant suffers and the foliage usually turns yellow (chlorosis).

Hardness of water is described as either temporary or permanent. Both
types reduce the ability of soap to lather because of the presence of
calcium and magnesium ions in solution. Temporary hardness is caused
by the bicarbonates of calcium and magnesium, and is called temporary
because boiling the water drives off carbon dioxide and allows calcium
or magnesium carbonate to precipitate (e.g. as lime scale), so
allowing the soap to lather more easily. But the pH of the water will
actually rise. Permanent hardness is caused by the sulphates or
chlorides of calcium or magnesium. Boiling will not precipitate them,
but the pH of such water isn't necessarily high anyway.

If in doubt, check the pH of your tap water, that's the key point
here. Use a colour indicator kit obtainable at most garden centres.


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

Martin wrote:
On Mon, 18 Jul 2005 20:01:07 GMT, "Matt Durkin"
wrote:
[...]
. Iron water - never heard of it - what is it, and where
can it be purchased.

Ionised water? Any garage.
[...]

And de-ionised water is even better. Any garage.

--
Mike.

Martin wrote:

On Mon, 18 Jul 2005 20:01:07 GMT, "Matt Durkin"
wrote:

"Kay" wrote in message
...

Posting etiquette aside, anyone know how to soften tapwater? ;O)
Defrosting freezer - mine doesn't frost up ever.
Letting tapwater stand - doesn't actually soften it.
Brittas filter - apparently does sod all as far as plants are concerned.

Actually it replaces calcium ions with sodium, but plants that are
sensitive to excessive dissolved salts will still not like it much. The
salts build up near the surface of the soil as water evaporates forming
a crust.

Iron water - never heard of it - what is it, and where can it be purchased.

Ionised water? Any garage.

De-ionised water - although rainwater is much very cheaper and easily
available with a little effort for watering plants. Not good enough for
car batteries though which can potentially be damaged by even traces of
common salt from sweat (or tapwater).

I wonder if it's the same as car battery water. I had a pitcher plant that I
watered with this a few years ago. Maybe I should look into that again. I
thought it was rather expensive for water, and I wasn't entirely sure if it
was suitable...

Natural rainwater is perfectly OK. You don't want it too pure either. NB
De-ionised water isn't too good to drink since it may be deionised but
it can still contain organic residues from the exchange column.

Regards,
Martin Brown

"Sacha" wrote in message
.uk...
On 18/7/05 21:01, in article ,
"Matt Durkin" wrote:

snip
Iron water - never heard of it - what is it, and where can it be purchased.
snip

Distilled water and from the chemist.

Thanks Sacha. I've been away from England too laomg, and could not for the life
of me remember the word !
Jenny

On Mon, 18 Jul 2005 21:03:44 +0100, Sacha
wrote:

"Washing soda is sodium carbonate. Adding sodium carbonate to hard water
will precipitate insoluble calcium carbonate or magnesium carbonate.
This is a way of removing permanent hardness from water."
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^

Indeed it is. But it will make the water even more alkaline (i.e. it
will raise its pH). This is bad news for plants that can't tolerate a
high pH in their soil, such as ericaceous plants. The water may be
'soft' in terms of soap lather, but it's no good for so-called 'lime
hating plants' (a misnomer if ever there was one).



--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net