Water from a dehumidifier?

[blueant]

So as spring has come around again I have the problem of finding a good water source. I live in a very hard water area, can't find any distilled water and have no efficient way to collect rainwater (the best I have right now is a small bucket outside). I was wondering if getting a dehumidifier and using the water that collects from that would be a better idea than giving in and using tap water?

If this is a bad idea and I have to use tap water (with vinegar to lower the ph), is the damage to my plants only a long term concern that can be mitigated by more regularly changing the compost, or will it kill them pretty quick?

Any help very welcome!

[cactushobbyman]

I have hard water from a well and my cactus grow well. My pots aren't. Outside garden cactus grow and thrive. Now, could my cactus do better not having hard water? Maybe, I'm not an expert and when I compare my cactus to others without hard water, I can see little difference except for the pots. So I just don't invest in custom pots. Check out my post and see the pics of my outside and inside cactus, and see what other post.

[DaveW]

It should be distilled water, therefore OK, also similar water from defrosting the fridge or freezer. However depending how many plants you have sticking them out in the rain occasionally can help to leach hard water build up out of the pots, however it may wash off some of the wool if you are one of the people who never water from above, but always into the pot.

Generally speaking North American cacti are more tolerant of alkaline conditions than some South American ones, so it depends what you grow. Don't use water from the water softeners that use chemicals though since these are just as bad for plants as hard water.

From the Web:-

"Some areas have "hard" water that has excessive amounts of minerals (mostly magnesium and calcium). These minerals are bad for your plants, so you shouldn't use hard water directly on them. You also shouldn't use hard water that's been run through a household softener; the salt used in softeners is also bad for the plants. If you've got hard water, filter it with a simple carbon-type filter from the hardware store. You can also use a pitcher-type filtering system sold for drinking water. This filtering removes the minerals without adding other chemicals."

[blueant]

Ok thanks guys! So it might not be optimum but wont be disastrous either. I will make sure to put them out for a drink whenever we get a good downpour.

[kristian_Fossmo]

Aqua Medic has some cheap RO-filters that are popular in the aquarist communities. This in in Swedish unfourtunely, do not know if they send outside of the country, 70 or 96 euro depending on Liter/day. I use water from the tumble dryer whit good results on my orchids and cacti.
http://shop.foretagsakvarium.se/sv/osmo ... rdygn.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[kristian_Fossmo]

Found this http://www.marinedepot.com/RO_System-FIRORO-ct.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[blueant]

Wow, they look cool. I would love to get something like that, but not sure I could afford/have the space for it. One of the bonuses for me with a dehumidfier was that it would also be fulfilling two purposes at once and I thought harvesting water from the air was a nice idea However with steady energy consumption and the amount of water produced not being enough, seems like I won't be giving it a go even as an experiment. I one day hope to have a good solar still though!

[DaveW]

Can't you have a water butt outside and tap into the rainwater downpipe with a rainwater diverter? Once the water butt is full rainwater continues down the rainwater pipe as normal into the drain or soak-away rather than overflowing:-

http://www.reuk.co.uk/Rainwater-Diverter.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjkIu8d92sA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1O3gdb2lrM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You can usually find all the fittings on EBAY if you look for "Rainwater Diverters" and "Rainwater Butts or Barrels".

[blueant]

I wish I rent a second floor appartment with only a small amount of outside, mostly public, space. I will take a look at the downpipes though and see if there is any possible way to collect from them.

[widea]

If this is a bad idea and I have to use tap water (with vinegar to lower the ph), is the damage to my plants only a long term concern that can be mitigated by more regularly changing the compost, or will it kill them pretty quick?

I live in an area with hard water also (about pH 8 ) and I lower the pH to 6 with vinegar for some years now. The plants seem to like it, much better than the time I only used tap water. No need to change the soil more often than usual in my opinion.

[Aiko]

I wish I rent a second floor appartment with only a small amount of outside, mostly public, space. I will take a look at the downpipes though and see if there is any possible way to collect from them.

When it rains, just put up some plastic and allow falling water to collect in a bucket. Easy to set up and easy to remove after rains are gone (or if you have enough water on stock).

[blueant]

I live in an area with hard water also (about pH 8 ) and I lower the pH to 6 with vinegar for some years now. The plants seem to like it, much better than the time I only used tap water. No need to change the soil more often than usual in my opinion.

Thank you. That is what I have started to do too, about a teaspoon to 4 litres. It is strange though as I was told for a long time that tap water would kill my CPs, like the cephalotus, but it seemed to thrive on it in otherwise good conditions. I guess it requires a more scientific analysis of my tap water and I didn't want to presume that my cacti were just as rebellious.

When it rains, just put up some plastic and allow falling water to collect in a bucket. Easy to set up and easy to remove after rains are gone (or if you have enough water on stock).

Do you mean like a curtain of plastic that leads into a container or a large cone of hard plastic that increases surface area? I guess I could try both!