Having plants indoors or outdoor really brightens up your day. It provides a good ambiance and a lively atmosphere in your room or garden. So it’s only natural that we keep them healthy and alive. And we do that by watering them, not just watering them but doing it with the correct water.
Some areas have Hard water and lots of household uses Water softeners. Softened water makes your water taste better and prolongs appliances that use water. Is that also true for your plants? Most of the time it’s not a good idea to water your plants with softened water as softened water has a high amount of sodium, which is attained from salt.
Plants typically don’t do well with high concentrations of salts. Sodium tricks the plants into thinking that they already have more than enough water than they already have.
Not only does the salt in your water is not good for your plants, but it also builds up in the soil which in turn will make it difficult for future plants to grow.
This is not to say that if you use softened water you should not water your plants. Here are a few things you can do. If your plants are showing signs of dehydration as a result of the excess sodium, you can simply stop using softened water to water them and begin using regular water, or even better, rainwater!
Doing this will allow your plants to start absorbing the correct amount of water they need. However it may take time, so be prepared to wait a little while for plant recuperation.
First, you can just collect rainwater and use those to water your plants along with the softened water. The rainwater will dissolve the salt in your softened water and make them less harmful to your plants. But be careful because the salt from the softened water will still build up in your soil. You can do a process called Leaching. Leaching is done when you regularly water your soils with distilled or rainwater to dilute the built-up salt in your soil.
Another solution is you can have a bypass spigot installed. This means that you’ll have a device installed outside of your house that takes water before it goes in to be softened and you can use that to water your plants without much salt build up. Since you’ll be watering often, you must ensure there is adequate drainage to rid the soil of excess water or your plants and soil will become waterlogged.
You can also use potassium chloride instead of regular salt (sodium chloride) pellets in your softener’s brine tank. Potassium is a plant nutrient and is fine for plants and soils.
If these treatments are carried out, there’s no reason why you should be faced with any plant deaths or further complications as a result of softened water.
Just be patient and give your garden time to adapt to the new water quality whilst it rids itself of the effects of the softened water.
Over time your garden, soil, and plants will return to their previous state of health – just be sure to keep a close eye on everything and monitor soil levels until everything is back to normal.
A reverse osmosis filter greatly reduces contaminants. And it’s a very popular choice for gardeners with plant diversity. The biggest benefit is creating clean, consistent water. So you can easily control the nutrients and fertilizers you add. Gardeners with bacteria, iron, and chlorine problems will appreciate the benefits of reverse osmosis water. It’s like having rainwater from your faucet.
Plus, the pH of RO water can be easily changed. So plants with specific acid or alkaline requirements will benefit from the versatility of reverse osmosis
If these treatments are done correctly, there’s no reason why you should be facing any plant deaths or further complications as a result of softened water.
Just like anything with plants you have to be patient and very nurturing with them and most of all you have to love and truly appreciate the beauty that they bring!
Over time your garden, soil, and plants will return to their normal state. Remember, if you have the chance of watering your plants with a natural source such as rainwater, do so as the benefits are considerable when compared to regular tap water plus it’s also a good way to conserve our water supplies!
Some areas have Hard water and lots of household uses Water softeners. Softened water makes your water taste better and prolongs appliances that use water. Is that also true for your plants? Most of the time it’s not a good idea to water your plants with softened water as softened water has a high amount of sodium, which is attained from salt.
Plants typically don’t do well with high concentrations of salts. Sodium tricks the plants into thinking that they already have more than enough water than they already have.
Not only does the salt in your water is not good for your plants, but it also builds up in the soil which in turn will make it difficult for future plants to grow.
This is not to say that if you use softened water you should not water your plants. Here are a few things you can do. If your plants are showing signs of dehydration as a result of the excess sodium, you can simply stop using softened water to water them and begin using regular water, or even better, rainwater!
Doing this will allow your plants to start absorbing the correct amount of water they need. However it may take time, so be prepared to wait a little while for plant recuperation.
First, you can just collect rainwater and use those to water your plants along with the softened water. The rainwater will dissolve the salt in your softened water and make them less harmful to your plants. But be careful because the salt from the softened water will still build up in your soil. You can do a process called Leaching. Leaching is done when you regularly water your soils with distilled or rainwater to dilute the built-up salt in your soil.
Another solution is you can have a bypass spigot installed. This means that you’ll have a device installed outside of your house that takes water before it goes in to be softened and you can use that to water your plants without much salt build up. Since you’ll be watering often, you must ensure there is adequate drainage to rid the soil of excess water or your plants and soil will become waterlogged.
You can also use potassium chloride instead of regular salt (sodium chloride) pellets in your softener’s brine tank. Potassium is a plant nutrient and is fine for plants and soils.
If these treatments are carried out, there’s no reason why you should be faced with any plant deaths or further complications as a result of softened water.
Just be patient and give your garden time to adapt to the new water quality whilst it rids itself of the effects of the softened water.
Over time your garden, soil, and plants will return to their previous state of health – just be sure to keep a close eye on everything and monitor soil levels until everything is back to normal.
A reverse osmosis filter greatly reduces contaminants. And it’s a very popular choice for gardeners with plant diversity. The biggest benefit is creating clean, consistent water. So you can easily control the nutrients and fertilizers you add. Gardeners with bacteria, iron, and chlorine problems will appreciate the benefits of reverse osmosis water. It’s like having rainwater from your faucet.
Plus, the pH of RO water can be easily changed. So plants with specific acid or alkaline requirements will benefit from the versatility of reverse osmosis
If these treatments are done correctly, there’s no reason why you should be facing any plant deaths or further complications as a result of softened water.
Just like anything with plants you have to be patient and very nurturing with them and most of all you have to love and truly appreciate the beauty that they bring!
Over time your garden, soil, and plants will return to their normal state. Remember, if you have the chance of watering your plants with a natural source such as rainwater, do so as the benefits are considerable when compared to regular tap water plus it’s also a good way to conserve our water supplies!
