What's the Best Water for Orchids? Hard, Soft, Distilled, Rain or Well, Reverse Osmosis...

[@markw.mullins2208]

I have learned so much from you and others about orchids. Its became a need and an intense thirst for knowledge about these beautiful flowers.

[@elbeem20001]

The tap water in my neck of the woods (St Lucia, Eastern Caribbean) has always been deemed as one of the "The Best" in the Caribbean. I will still have to check the pH in it. I usually use rainwater for flushing, and of course for fertilising (weekly weakly). The rain water is straight from the clouds - the rainfall is usually HEAVY!! However, I will need to save some, since we are approaching the "dry season" which is anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months of the year: Mar/Apr till May/Jun. Of course June is the approach of the hurricane season - plenty heavy rains. During the dry, or drought, season, I will need to water a little more frequently - as plants/trees DRY OUT!! Thanks again for a timely video.

[@Orchideria]

Hi Lyn! Wow, I'd love to live where the tap water was a better quality (taking out the hurricanes, of course). The dry season you describe is much like what I experienced when I lived overseas in Brazil. We also had to collect water for the dry season, but when it rained, it really poured. :)

[@galecunningham1250]

Hi Amanda! I love your explanation of the different waters for orchids. I use distilled water which has a pH of 7. But what I want to do is to bring it down to 4.5-5.5 for my paphs and phrags, to encourage blooming. Please tell me the ratio of distilled water and lemon juice to do that in one cup of water. Thanks much!

[@fantastica1652]

I use distilled water as our tap water has too much salt build-up when I use it the first time. They are very cheap. That you for this educational video. I just love your channel.

[@Orchideria]

Hi Fantastica! Thanks again for leaving a comment. I appreciate it. 😊 I use distilled exactly because of what you said, the salt build up. I had no idea why my orchids had such horrible results in the beginning, but I found out as soon as I changed my water. It all depends on where you live, I guess, and how much "stuff" they put in the tap water.

[@dr.mohamed_benghazi]

معلومات رائعه احب متابعتك من شمال افريقيا

[@kevins9242]

Thank you for the great information! I really liked how you included all of the relevant water info in one video.

[@Orchideria]

Hi Kevin, Thank you for your comment. I appreciate it.

[@galecunningham1250]

Good to know ph ranges for paphs & phrags. Will get ph meter. I use distilled water. Thanks a million for your excellent detailed info.

[@lidasheppard4968]

Thank you so much, to the point and easy to follow. Thanks!!!

[@Orchideria]

Hi Lida, I'm glad it helped. Thanks for watching.

[@melissamorales3635]

Good morning. I’m so glad I found this video.I have well water and am wondering if I should switch to distilled water. So far most of my orchids look good but as I’m new to this adventure I’m not sure. I just started early September and jumped straight in I now have 16 Phals yikes. A bit much to take on in a short amount of time but hey it’s the Virgo in me plus I feel like I’ll probably lose a few so I’ll learn from them. Some that I repotted are not doing well I can tell they have lost a ton of roots. I have some orchiata bark arriving this weekend and plan on repotting those again. Do you think it’s too soon to repot them? It’s been about 5 weeks. Thanks you so much for reading. Sorry for the rant. I will add the few that I have that I did not repot are in what I believe is the orchiata bark and the roots look fantastic. Could be because I didn’t repot those but could be the bark too,so I’ll be experimenting with that.

[@Orchideria]

Hi Melissa, Thank you for your comment. It didn't sound like a rant to me. 😀 I would switch to distilled water or reverse osmosis, because even though we'll water is natural, a lot of the calcium sediments and other minerals settle in the water making the mineral content extremely high. Orchids that are lithotpythes (grow on cliffs and rocky mountainous areas) might like it, but most are epiphytes, growing in trees. They prefer a lower pH. 16 Phals... wow! I would say that's a combo of both Virgo and orchid addiction settling in. Thanks again for commenting. I appreciate it.

[@melissamorales3635]

@@Orchideria hi,thank you so much for your reply I appreciate it. So I repotted 2 of my larger Phil’s and just as I thought they hardly had any surviving roots. I think if I had waited another week they’d be too far gone,maybe still are. I repotted them in orchiata bark,soaked them and am planning on misting the top roots daily. A smaller one I used my older bark with a nice layer of moss on top and am planning on misting that too everyday to see if I can get some root growth. The orchids that I bought and did not repot are fine tons of nice green roots. So I’m at a loss because I’ve been watering all with well water. I think it was bad media or my in experience with repotting. Anyway thank you so much. Live and learn. I will get this. Just need roots to start growing now.

[@valentine3e570]

Brilliant 🤩 You are a Great Teacher 👩‍🏫

[@Orchideria]

Hi Valentine3e, Oh, I'm humbled and honored. Thank you for watching and for leaving a comment. I appreciate it. 🙏 😊

[@mattstapley4749]

Great information, thanks!

[@niranghawi2468]

Thanks for all your beautiful videos. What if the orchid lives in water culture, should We use distilled water for that too?

[@Orchideria]

Hi Niran, Yes, I used distilled water and adjust my fertilizer acordingly. It's easier for me that way.

[@niranghawi2468]

@@Orchideria thanks for replying for quickly, would I also still have to fertiliser every five days since you said five days with water and two days dry?

[@Orchideria]

Hi Niran, Add the fertilizer before the normal water, let it sit a bit, then rinse it out. Then leave your "unfertilized" water in the vase, as in distilled or reverse osmosis. I think I made a video about that and I'll try to find it and paste it below. If I haven't made the video yet, I'll post a link to an article that explains it better. UPDATE: I haven't made a video about that... Wow. I'll make one. In the mean time, this article may help orchideria.com/fertilize-orchids-in-water-culture/

[@louiselemerise1415]

Will I. Cut off brown stem also .?.

[@tara_27244]

I recently switched to distilled (from Toronto, ON tap water). Hoping to see a difference in time after the growth cycle. I have one large phal who grows leaves and roots well but haven’t been able to get it to spike and bloom again so I’m hoping this will also give the plant a bit more of a chance ;)

[@Orchideria]

Hi Tara, Thank you for the comment. I use distilled water but have to add fertilizer to it. Just the distilled water by itself doesn't give the orchids what it needs. As long as you add the fertilizer, you're orchid will grow a lot.

[@tara_27244]

@@Orchideria oh yeah I do use the MSU for feeding intervals. I didn’t mention above ;)

[@edmzoneavicii]

Thx so much

[@evarene07]

My tap water here in NYC is 6.0-6.3...I capture rain water as it falls naturally, into the plastic containers (ph is 5:5-5.8) and alternate watering, so far my orchids are doing well. As for ice cubes...YIKES😫. I’ve seen many big box stores do this and it boils my “orchid blood”🙂

[@Orchideria]

Hi Eva, Yeah, I become speechless when it comes to the ice cube method too... Thanks for commenting.

[@lexyliu000]

How about the water from the water fountain, or the purified water you can get refills from a tap?

[@jessicarodriguez5450]

Can you use purified water

[@terriellis3676]

With semi do your u do 2 days off than 5 days in or other way around

[@Dan-ud8ob]

I have just subscribed love the channel .. question please .. you have a yellow orchid with a pink center .. what is the name of it .. I have one identical to it.. Thank you for a great channel!

[@Orchideria]

Hi Dan, Thank you so much for watching my video and for subscribing. I appreciate it. I'll go back and watch that video again to see which one was blooming. :)

[@Dan-ud8ob]

@@Orchideria Hi again ..so the episode i was watching at the time was aired on Feb 3 2021.. the orchid was a yellow pedal with a pink center .. when i buy orchids from the grocery , they never have the names on them . when i saw yours , it was an identical match and i would really love to get the name of it .. thankyou for your time..

[@LiamEserda]

Hi Amanda, tap water is hard water because it consists calcium. But calcium is what they need too. If my tapwater has the right PH than they get enough calcium, am I right? That PPM meter, does it not measure what you want to know? Does it only measure there are too much ions of certain elements in it? And that could be one element for instance or two or three? Did I understand that right? Thank you.

[@Orchideria]

Hi Liam, Yes, the ppm meter will only tell you how many parts per million but not what they are. If your pH is in the 5.5 to 6.5 range, then tap water would be perfectly fine. I don't know the calcium percentage in the water in your area, so it might have to be supplemented even if the pH is good.

[@LiamEserda]

​@@Orchideria Thanks for your reply. I wil purchase those meters. How can I test/measure the calcium content of tap water? Because those meters test the PH and the PPM but how can I see how much the calcium content is? Those PH meters and testkits/strips do indicate the PH; that gives you a result of the hardness of te water. Hard water: high Ph- much calcium, soft water- low PH- less calcium. My guess is when the PH is right (about 7 for Phals? ) then the calcium and magnesium content would be ok. So adding once a mont some calcium and Epsom salt will be ok? Sorry for any language errors; I live in the Netherlands, hence my English is not always top-notch. Especially when to use "than" and "then" is not always easy.

[@LiamEserda]

@@Orchideria There is distilled and demineralized water. The former is boiled and te latter is filtered and therefore somewhat cheaper. Does it make any difference for the orchids?

[@yolilopez1992]

What about a Britain’s type filter for water

[@LiamEserda]

I see a Thanksgiving or Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera) on the background. They come from Brazil too I think? Can you do a tutorial about getting them in bloom again? Because it's not easy. Thanks.

[@Orchideria]

Hi Liam, Uhm... About the Chriatmas Catcus, Hehehehe... I wish I could give you some advice, but with that one, I really don't know enough to make a video about it. Well, I mean I do, but I don't. Mine blooms, but I really can't tell you why. I did write an article about it on orchideria.com, but I don't fell confident with enough info to make a video about it. Not sure if that makes sense... I like to be 100% sure of what I'm talking about before I make a video. And even then, I get a few things wrong here and there. :) On a blog I can change it, not on a video.

[@LiamEserda]

@@Orchideria Hi Amanda, I have searched but can't find the article. If you're not confident enough about it don't do a video. I will search on the internet and KZbin for it. Thanks.

[@markw.mullins2208]

My mother had a Christmas Cactus for at least forty years or more. It bloomed twice a year, Once at Easter, or a little after, and never failed to bloom for Christmas. The way she made it bloom like twice a year was to cut off the long branches at least for or five links back, and ( don't trash them, put them in a small jar of water and they will root. You cah give them away as Christmas Presents) put four ounces, no more, of water on the base of the plant. They don't like being wet on the links. You can fertilize them once a year with a half cup of Miracle Grow for flowers, but don't over fertilize them. You will have many, MANY years of happiness with your cacti !!

[@Orchideria]

Oh wow.... Thank you for this! I appreciate it 🙏

[@LiamEserda]

@@markw.mullins2208 That's indeed wow! 40 years or more. I did some experiment about 7 or 8 weeks ago, can't remember exactly, haven't kept a diary: I did break off one section by turning it. Maybe from 6 branches each. Then a couple of weeks later there appeared 4 buds and they flowered for one week. The rest made new lids/sections. So you "hit the nail on the head". So my conclusion is: what your mother does is restricting it's growth so it's gonna flower sooner and better. So my experiment is in fact on a small scale what your mother already does for years on a bigger scale. That's good to know that it really works. Thanks for your comment, great info!

[@artbarn2624]

You didn't mention watering with spring water. That's what I use--it is truly spring water, not tap water that is treated and bottled. Should I switch to distilled water for my Phalaenopsis Orchids?

[@Orchideria]

Hi Artbarn, Thanks for the comment. Spring water is actually better than distilled water, so you don't need to change anything. Tonuse distilled water, you have to manually add fertilizers and other elements. Spring water already has a few of the essential elements orchids need.

[@artbarn2624]

@@Orchideria Thank you so much for such a quick response! I'm beginning to realize how totally uninformed and inexperienced I am about growing orchids. I'll be watching your other videos so that I can protect my four surviving orchids and help them to thrive. I've never fertilized or re-potted. I recently lost two plants, most likely to overwatering. So glad I've found you!

[@Orchideria]

Hi Artbarn, I'm humbled and speechless with your comment. Thank you.

[@TheRage0180]

I've heard you shouldn't use spring water from MissOrcidGirl's channel (pretty sure she said that) she said to use distilled water with fertilizers.

[@Orchideria]

Hi The rage 0180, If you use distilled water with fertilizer, you'll have a better controlled environment and know exactly what you are adding to your orchids. You have the exact percentages of NPK and other supplements that you use. There is nothing wrong with spring water unless you are adding additional fertilizer to them too, since they will already have additional natural elements. In some places, the pH of spring water (and well water too) is not as good as it should be and the spring water is not beneficial. It's always best to test. If spring water wasn't beneficial and should always be avoided, then no orchids would grow naturally near springs, ponds, rivers, or streams. So that isn't necessarily true. The problem is when you start mixing spring water, which already has a high concentration of specific minerals, to fertilizer. With distilled water, on the other hand, you need to add fertilizer.

[@luisabellon5869]

What are the blue orchids on the background?

[@Orchideria]

Hi Luis, It's a Phalaenopsis, but unfortuneately it has been dyed blue. I made a video about it's care and what to do to keep it blue for as long as possible. You can find it in the video section. It's a beautiful plant, however, the next flower spikes will be white.

[@ll-qq9qr]

Love!