Why I DON'T USE FILTERED WATER on my PLANTS

[@hathhath2444]

Depends what plants and what your tap water is like. My caletheas would kick the bucket if watered with the hard water tap. I have few water butts in my garden and simply collect rain water. Sometimes using fish tank water (caletheas not fan of this tho), but with over 150 houseplants I need at least 20l of water a week.

[@prettyingreen]

That’s a great point about Calatheas, and likely Anthurium. That hard water and chlorine/chloramine would likely brown the edges of their leaves. Look into a recirculating Aquaponics system maybe. Could be a good option to conserve water and feed with a great organic nutrient feed

[@IMNENIGMA1]

I'm gonna try tap water, because with over 350 plants, using my Brita takes forever lol

[@giyavictoria3747]

My experience with brita is good, the first watering from tap showed my dracaena and calatheas can't handle it, soon as I started filtered water the brown tips stopped happening.

[@Nclk619]

@@IMNENIGMA1seriously? Just get a under the sink filter on the cold water line. I never understand why people use britta. My under the sink filter lasts 5 years minimum and the water tested clean

[@Kathleen_Gig]

Calathea are diva for everything 😆 I add to my distilled water complete hydroponic nutriment divided by 2 and my product have a pH buffer I am ok 😅

[@jamesjohnson-tk3gx]

That's a bold statement considering here in Michigan we get a letter grade of a d for tap water. 1600ppm out the tap bro we need to run ro or use soil all there is to it.

[@jamesjohnson-tk3gx]

Not to mention if you've already gone the route of switching to leca whats one bottle of cal-mag it's literally one more ingredient..... big deal. I do like that you run the Lucas formula though it does help those that are able to use tap

[@cassdoesallthethings]

I feel like he makes this statement saying "I" and "most" if your living in a place with bad water, then this probably wouldn't necessarily apply to you

[@ranjith31078]

This is a nice video that deserves more views. I had a similar experience. Here in India, initially I was using Ground/Borewell water with sand filtering for my Hydroponics setup - the plants were doing fine. I then added a RO filter to take it to "next level" and now I see more pests than before. The hydroponic Formula I am using hasn't changed. I have never correlated the new problems in Hydroponics with RO water but it makes sense now. Tap/Ground water has some chemical and biological components that when the plant is exposed to, strengthens it enough to defend against pests. A sterile RO setup leads to more fragile plants. Extending this notion further, it makes sense why Organic Gardening may very well be the Holy Grail. Plants are exposed to some necessary stress underground/underpot and it prepares them against pests above ground

[@prettyingreen]

I appreciate this! I completely agree. Plants in the wild receive VARIOUS water qualities from 0ppm RO water to toxic streams. Using RO in my experience tends to create more problems than it solves

[@kundalini691]

I want to use roof run off from my rain barrel for my house plants, I put a few drops per gal. My question is will the small amount bleach I use to kill the algae and contaminates, I was wondering will it kill the plant fertilizers in the water for the plants.

[@CodyAF333voluntaryist]

Thanks for the video, I was always curious about water filters and have been skeptical about using them with house plants. I have been using half tap and half filtered. I've mostly been using filtered water to keep my distiller cleaner and using distilled water for the humidifier.

[@prettyingreen]

Yup tap mixed with filtered works great!

[@Thru_the_Looking_Glass]

What about for cactus/succulents? Is it better to have Brita water or tap?

[@nonerequested7492]

So you could possibly make some sort of holding tank to hold the waste water so you could collect and separate out the individual minerals and metals

[@fk8chick893]

Thank you for this . Would you say cannabis is one of those plants that do well with the metals and minerals that u were talking about ?

[@VincentG123]

What about water conditioners?

[@silenc3x]

I use a 6-stage RO/DI for fish tanks, and previously soil-grown weed plants. But with the weed plants I had to remineralize with calcium and magnesium. Ro/di will give you nothing. 0.0 TDS, clean slate. Which is a better starting point, less variables. Botanicare Calmag isn't organic since it uses EDTA iron. And I was really trying to establish a healthy soil, so I would use Roots Organics calmag to remineralize. And to establish a buffer in the soil and ensure the pH was correct I would amend the soil heavily with Dolomite and azomite. Fox Farms Ocean Forest is a top tier soil. I guess I hold plant growing to higher standards if I am going to ingest it. My house plants all deal with my tapwater just fine. And I don't eat or smoke them so don't really worry about the baddies like PFAS or other forever chemicals getting in through the tapwater. But I'm sure the heavy metals, chloramine, and others in my tap water still disrupt my microbes/soil colonies more than RO/DI water would. All things to consider. If your tap water is full of garbage, it may make more sense to go filtered and add some calmag. Water reports tell no lies. In my area there were so many factories around in the past that a lot of terrible things have leached into the water. Industrial runoff, agricultural runoff, etc. Things that you may not want to knowingly ingest regularly. There is a fantastic book called Teaming with Microbes that talks about the links between soil microbes and healthy plants. Check it out! Love the channel. You should back up from your camera a bit though. Way too close IMO. Give the framing some room to breathe.

[@prettyingreen]

Really appreciate the feedback! Teaming with Microbes has to be one of the best books on building soil biology-I have a copy at home! I’ve always found RO causes exactly what you mention: Cal/Mag def. Tap typically works out fine especially for houseplants. And I really appreciate the comment about backing up from the camera! That’s a great tip. Thank you for checking out the videos 😄

[@silenc3x]

@@prettyingreen You're welcome. Would love to hear your thoughts on your LED lights. Do you have a video on them? I notice you have them on tracks which is great to emulate sunlight. I have a few Cree CXB3590s I use in my living room above some cacti and bourgainvillea. COBs and Quantum boards have taken the LED game to a new level. And I imagine you have some great takeaways.

[@mbeaudet411]

my dude, love your videos, learning alot! Just one point about your videos from someone who works in film and television. Either take a step back, turn down the lighting on your face or adjust your facial performance. As of right now its very jarring, but with small adjustments it could be a much more pleasurable viewing experience! Thought I'd throw it out there. Thanks!

[@prettyingreen]

Thank you for this feedback! Another viewer suggested this too and I implemented it in my last vid :) Aroid mix Vs LECA. Will be shooting from this new angle from here on out -- always trying to improve the videos and appreciate the tips!

[@pawsitiveleader8710]

what about plants in soil? Chloramine?

[@curtisstrawn4211]

So I use distilled water. And I am having Cal Mag issues. Is that more than likely because of the distilled water?

[@prettyingreen]

Yup!

[@sparetire1234]

Does this apply to most house plants? I have a bunch of tropical ones and was curious if this would help them thrive. Also does letting the tap water sit out for 24 hours help at all? Great video!

[@prettyingreen]

Yes this applies to most houseplants (maybe the exception of Anthurium). Letting the tap water sit out for water with chlorine works, but not if you water has chloramine (usually bigger cities).

[@CassyAthena]

thanks for the info!

[@prettyingreen]

Of course 🤗

[@OutfitMyLife]

wait so i dont need to ph my tap water..id let it bubble away until i needed removing the chlorine and ph..should i still ph?

[@prettyingreen]

If you’re watering soil, likely no need to pH. For Aroid mix that is coconut husk based, pH to 6.0, and for LECA/Hydro pH to 5.8

[@gilbertocharpentier6391]

Thanks for your video. I am having a big of an issue. I live in a foreign country where where water quality is good but it does leave calcium deposits over as short period of time. I have a monstera and once I start using tap water, it leaves started to brown or developed brown spots. Thus the reason of finding your video. Should I be using filtered water or destiles water in my situation? My thanks for any comment!

[@prettyingreen]

Hmmm without knowing exactly what is in the water, you might want to filter it so you have a baseline as a starting point. But then you’ll have to add back Ca Mg, etc…

[@johnmack7336]

What do you have to say about Rain water?????

[@prettyingreen]

Wet and it comes from the sky

[@prettyingreen]

Jk. Just make sure it’s not too acidic. But should work great. Aroids do love calcium and magnesium though, and municipalities naturally have Ca/Mg in them from the infrastructure

[@sierrabuzz]

I'm confused if the experience you're describing with nutrient deficiencies are with plants in an aroid mix with distilled water ? Or just leca and hydroponics

[@prettyingreen]

In either medium, LECA or Aroid mix, stripping out the magnesium and Calcium from the tap water tends to require supplementation

[@sierrabuzz]

@@prettyingreen interesting... I'm not sure how much I want to gamble with my expensive plants but I may try tap water on some of my cheaper ones and see how they react. I am strict distilled only and do not notice nutrient deficiencies, maybe I dont know what to look for too, but I've never supplemented or used fertilizer and my plants seem fine.

[@prettyingreen]

@@sierrabuzz If you don't have any issues with the distilled method, and it doesn't cost much in water costs, then maybe just keep doing what you're doing!

[@JoseReyes-xs3js]

All my plants do okay with tap water .only plant that i have that is sensitive to tap water is my jaboticabas they dont like the chlorine and the high alkaline water my jaboticabas like acidic ph like 5.5 and 6.5 i almost kill my jaboticabas with tap water now i just use rain water or spring bottle water may be ill buy a water pitcher that has a easy fliter to replace those water hose fliters can get a little expensive i think i seen one going for like 50 60 bucks . But yeah 90 percent of my plants do well with tap water .

[@tolovve6212]

Don't use a garden hose to water food gardens because of the lead in the faucet.

[@Retromicky82]

Not sure if u can help me i live in the uk and have hard water. I have yucca, snake plants and some succulents all has house plants. I have found they are having issues. They have the light they need but i always come to the water and think should i use filtered water from a brita has living in a apartment snd my area its hard to store rainwater or find distilled water . My snake plant un the past month grew a new blade has i call them but it had a huge bite out of it once it got bigger . I checked for bugs and nothing. Other parts got some pieces missing but not that amount so thought water or is it fungal and need disposed of?

[@prettyingreen]

If it’s melted away it might be fungal/ overwatering. Make sure to keep the media super dry. I’ve never heard of overly hard water creating this

[@Retromicky82]

@prettyingreen thanks for the reply I managed to take it to a friend who works around them he definitely said its over watering. It's honestly my fault has I had someone look after my flat and well I didn't give them instructions on the plants so you can see what happened . He has suggested some different plants for my shade areas (not where the snake plant is) but any suggestions would be great has its partial shade but has some light coming through the blinds

[@akshaygaikwad8272]

Sir.. Can you please explain ,use of 'c micron'

[@prettyingreen]

Hmmm I’m not sure what you mean? PPM? Aka mg/l?

[@akshaygaikwad8272]

@@prettyingreen Thanks sir for replying.. Sir please inform me about use of 'c'micron in horticulture

[@bowzee1502]

50/50 cut.. keeps the ph stable..add small amounts of cal mag and amino acids to increase how many ions of calcium the plant can consume and store for heavy flowering.. get good people

[@prettyingreen]

Great advice!

[@CodyAF333voluntaryist]

What are you thoughts on rain water and sea water? I heard sea water contains all the minerals readily available for plants and diluted with rain water, for an example if you use a 50gal drum to collect rain water and collected 49gal of rain water then add 1 gallon of sea water unsure of the ratio but that would be perfect plants....

[@prettyingreen]

That’s an interesting idea! It would likely work. Just need to verify the pH and ppm are in balance. There is a company that makes SEA-90 which effectively is concentrated form of sea water minerals!

[@アルセウス-l7x]

Carnivorous plant owners are screaming

[@prettyingreen]

Hahahahah and all the anthuriums, marantas

[@ULUnLoco]

bro looks like a vampire

[@prettyingreen]

brrrooooo. not v chill of u

[@ULUnLoco]

@@prettyingreen lol my bad. It's that circle light.

[@HunterOrahood]

where are the center parts of your eyes dude?!? They're all grey'd out; you may have been bitten by a zombie! Well thanks for all the plant daddy advice, it was fun while it lasted.

[@prettyingreen]

Hahahaha alllllllrighty then