Is water softening with Na ions OK for succs?

[pokie]

Hello,

I am moving to a house with a water softening system. According to the manufacturer it replaces Ca/Mg ions with Na in the water. Could this be problematic for some succulents? Is the original hard water preferable?

[jerrytheplater]

You could buy Potassium Chloride at a premium price and your water will have potassium ions rather than sodium. I know I'd look into that.

Next question is how hard is your water? You could use it. I don't have a softener, but my water is on the low end of hard. I do collect rainwater and my dehumidifier water to water some of my plants. Its great to flush out pots as well.

Hopefully you have a bypass before the water softener so you can get unsoftened water somewhere in your house.

You don't say where you live in your profile. Click on your Avatar and you'll get to your profile where you can update location and weather conditions where you live.

[MikeInOz]

Don't use it. Check pH of your un-softened water and adjust it if necessary.

[DaveW]

Never used it, but from what I have read don't use softened water for plants. As always rainwater is best if you can save enough.

See:-

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant- ... 0of%20salt.

You can divert the water from your house roof into a water butt from a modified drainpipe. I don't know about other countries but these kits are available in the UK in DIY stores or online from EBAY etc. What happens when the water butt is full? No it does not overflow if connected correctly the rainwater just continues down the old part of the drainpipe into the drain as it did previously. You can get diverter kits for both round and square rainwater downpipes.

See:-

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Ho ... &FORM=VIRE

[pokie]

As I am moving across states next week something like storing rain water is not really an option, and it's unclear whether the landlords would allow me to modify a drainpipe. It might rain next month, maybe. I'll ask the landlords again about access to the original hard water, but they have evaded my question so far. I also asked for the water quality report.

[jerrytheplater]

As I am moving across states next week something like storing rain water is not really an option, and it's unclear whether the landlords would allow me to modify a drainpipe. It might rain next month, maybe. I'll ask the landlords again about access to the original hard water, but they have evaded my question so far. I also asked for the water quality report.

You should be able to get the water quality report from the water utility website.

How many plants are you talking about? You could always buy water.

[samreu]

Agree with Jerry regarding size of collection and buying water - I have a softener system in my home, despite it I buy large bottles (19L) of RO water to use in my espresso $$$ machine, kettle, drip coffee maker and my smallish 40-50 plant collection. Even with the softener, I would get mineral/salt deposits. I usually use 90/10 bottle/tap just so I get some minerals in the water. I buy the large bottles and use a rechargeable pump (Amazon) that fits on the bottle and cost about $20 - a lot easier than lifting that bottle at 6 am to make a couple of espresso shots ! When I was into fishkeeping and had 8+ aquariums, I used to bypass the softener, as suggested above to use for water changes, which were substantial @ 30-40% volume change per aquarium, per week. In that case, the issue was I needed the hard water for my african fish.

[pokie]

It does sound like there is a hose I can use from the well before it's softened.
This is well water, so there is no related utility website as far as I know.
I have over 140 plants.
Ideally buying water would be my last resort given the size of my collection. How quickly do you go through a 19L bottle? I buy those for my vivariums and they last ~ 2 weeks, but that's just for 4 small tanks. For what it's worth I have a dream of keeping a fire eel at some point, but I imagine I would need RO for that too.

[7george]

Never used it, but from what I have read don't use softened water for plants. As always rainwater is best if you can save enough.
...

I agree. Adding Na ions to water means making it harder because you add salts to it. Maybe adding CaCl2 to water and removing sediments will help. But don't think that chlorides in that water is something good for succulents.
Just collect rain and snow water.

[samreu]

A 19L bottle will last me about 2 weeks - 19L diluted 10% - 15% gives me about 22L water - plants, coffee, kettle. $7/bottle so about $15/month which is acceptable for me. As for the fire eel, I have kept other eels from South America which like soft water and they had adapted well to my hard water parameters - I'm on a well - the key was stability with little fluctuation. I was running a 250G, 210G, 2 x 180G, and some assorted 25 - 75G tanks - it was a lot of water changes but when you love the hobby, it isn't work. Retired 2 years ago and that meant travel (until COVID stopped everything), sold it all and took up plants and photography.

[pokie]

OK, I got the water test results:

[Steve Johnson]

Hi pokie,

If you wouldn't mind hearing from "Mr. OCD" (that'll be me! ), check this out:

http://www.cactiguide.com/forum/viewtop ... 25&t=43525

Not sure if casual hobbyists would want to go that far, but if your cactus-growing interests are more than casual, you might find that presentation to be helpful.

[jerrytheplater]

Is that water test for the well water before softening? I think it is. If so, go ahead and use it. You can acidify the water like Steve pointed out in his link.

[pokie]

Steve, thanks, I will take a look.

Jerry, yeah I believe so.