|
Post by daylilydude on Dec 13, 2017 4:10:25 GMT -5
When your watering your seedlings do you use the water right from the tap or do you use bottled... or maybe boil your water and let it cool??
|
|
|
Post by coppice on Dec 13, 2017 5:40:34 GMT -5
Right out of the tap for me. I will filter water to drink. To improve taste. <<shudder>>
|
|
|
Post by brownrexx on Dec 13, 2017 7:10:46 GMT -5
I have well water at my home and I water my seedlings with water right from the tap although I usually have it sitting in a watering can so that it is at room temperature.
|
|
|
Post by spike on Dec 13, 2017 9:10:20 GMT -5
Yep! Well water here also. Let it sit till room temp first.
|
|
|
Post by september on Dec 13, 2017 10:06:22 GMT -5
Water direct from the tap, if it's the "first" run. But we have really cold well water too, so if I've been running the cold for over a minute or two, I adjust the hot water tap to warm it up a little.
|
|
|
Post by ladymarmalade on Dec 13, 2017 10:52:41 GMT -5
From the tap.
|
|
|
Post by paquebot on Dec 13, 2017 12:00:25 GMT -5
Rain or well for outside seedlings. Two rain barrels except in winter. Goldfish pond filled from well. Inside, water from 50-gallon aquarium.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
|
|
|
Post by Gianna on Dec 13, 2017 12:31:05 GMT -5
Our tap water is wretched - lot of minerals, high pH, and lots of chlorine. But I still use it most of the time because it's easiest. Sometimes the outside seedlings get watered with tap water that's been sitting in a trash can with light, disolved fertilizer. I suppose they would be happier with better water care, but they will have to settle.
|
|
|
Post by pepperhead212 on Dec 13, 2017 14:05:22 GMT -5
The only time I use the filtered water is when I'm making the mix up, and I wet it down, making up a solution of Bt israelensis, to stop the fungus gnats. After that, just tap water, brought to room temp.
|
|
|
Post by spike on Dec 13, 2017 17:30:15 GMT -5
This may be a stupid question but since I use rain water or my well water, I never really gave it much thought before. Does it matter if you use city water, well water or rain water?
|
|
|
Post by paulf on Dec 13, 2017 17:34:48 GMT -5
Our tap water is raw water. Untreated but filtered and it goes on all seedlings.
|
|
|
Post by tomike on Dec 13, 2017 18:03:28 GMT -5
Looks like most people use tap water without question. Reference made to "City tap water".....
Well, I use a small aquarium air pump to draw off chlorine and have been doing this for more than 5 years....
I just may not need to do that... but for the minimal cost of running the air pump..... I think that I'm doing it right.....
Furthermore, with Myco in my starter ...... not sure that Myco and Chlorine are made for each other.....
Opinions from others would be greatly appreciated.....
|
|
|
Post by spacecase0 on Dec 13, 2017 18:05:03 GMT -5
when I lived in a city I used the city water direct, it worked very well due to the Chloramine in the water, it would not hurt the plants at all, and also took out the bacteria that would hurt the plants
now that I have well water, I use that and it is stored in a tank before it gets to the hose, so it is not in any way safe to drink, but the plants don't seem to mind.
if I had easy access to rain water I would use that. (I have had potatoes that were watered with nothing but rain water and they were the best ever, grew one of them with well water the next year and it was not nearly as good)
but I think that paquebot has the correct answer, the water from the fish tank or pond is about the best ever for plants I would use it, but my fish tank is just to far from where I live. (now I am wondering why I don't move my fish to where I moved to...)
|
|
|
Post by paulf on Dec 13, 2017 19:34:05 GMT -5
If you are concerned with chlorine in water just fill a big bucket and let it sit for a few hours (maybe overnight). Chlorine residual is very short lived and dissipates with contact to air.
|
|
|
Post by brownrexx on Dec 13, 2017 19:51:06 GMT -5
That was true when they treated water with chlorine. However most municipalities now use chloramine which will not evaporate upon sitting.
|
|
|
Post by paulf on Dec 13, 2017 21:03:59 GMT -5
Thankfully our water source only treats water during certain times of the year...spring and fall... and still uses chlorine. Chloramines require a carbon filter for removal. We also have a whole house filter that would remove chloramines if there were any being used. So my seedlings are safe either way. Never really had a problem with seedlings when we lived where chlorine was used in water anyway. I wonder what the tolerances are for plants. I do know very minute amounts of chlorine is used for purification...don't know dosages for chloramine.
Just looked it up. Chloramines are most often used originally in swimming pools and react with organic compounds, like sweat and urine and that causes the "chlorine" smell at pools. Many municipalities use both chlorine and chloramines depending on the time of year. Most ground water sources do not chlorinate (that's us). And so far as dosages, US EPA drinking water quality standards limit chloramine concentration for public water systems to 4 parts per million (ppm) based on a running annual average of all samples in the distribution system. Compare that to the new EPA standard for coliform and e-coli concentrations in drinking water of 1 part per BILLION before treatment must begin. When I was working as a water/wastewater technician 15 years ago the allowable limit was 10 parts per billion and the concentration required before humans showed any effect of infection was 80 parts per MILLION. Overkill...no pun intended.
I still use tap water to drink and feed my plants.
|
|
|
Post by brownrexx on Dec 13, 2017 21:31:48 GMT -5
I read that chloramine can cause stunting in plants grown hydroponically in it so treated tap water it should not be used for that purpose.
|
|
|
Post by Gianna on Dec 14, 2017 10:44:21 GMT -5
Our city water is all over the map. Because of the drought, our water district is using every source they can find. In the past it was mainly reservoir water, but that's been seriously depleted, and with evaporation, it's highly mineralized plus chlorinated. Then there is the wells they've been pumping that is also highly mineralized plus a bit more salinity because of proximity to the ocean. Our third water source is whatever water the district has been able to buy from around the state. But the taps still run, but for plants, it can be a bit of a crap-shoot. Most don't seem to mind however. As in they are alive, look OK, and produce.
The blueberries however are extremely picky about water, and I've got about 60 of them in 15 gallon pots. For these I would usually fill large containers and let it sit for at least a day. Our district uses chlorine when I called them last a few years ago. When I put the water into the large container (kiddie pool that holds 4-500 gallons, the scent of chlorine is very high. By the next day it seems to be mostly dissipated.
Then I have to adjust the pH for the berries, and add any fert I'm going to use. A couple years ago when our water was far more dire, it became extremely difficult to adjust the pH. It was all over the map. My old recipe just was not consistent anymore. And my plants were suffering. That's when I decided to collect rainwater (a long story). In the winter I'm able to collect about 4,000 gallons, which is about gone now since no rain yet. So it's back to using tap water for the blues...
|
|
|
Post by brownrexx on Dec 14, 2017 12:53:40 GMT -5
It's amazing how we take water for granted here in the east. However I don't like to overuse my well water so I have a 300 gallon tote that collects rainwater and I use that for the garden all summer.
|
|
|
Post by Laura_in_FL on Dec 15, 2017 11:11:14 GMT -5
I have city water with chloramines, and I use my tap water for seedlings. They do fine.
|
|