Sometimes people ask ‘what water should I use for my orchids’ and this depends on the actual orchid plants. Some can tolerate almost any kind of water supply and then there are others that are very sensitive to water quality, in particular to dissolved solids and pH levels.

Lets go have a look at some water descriptions and their true meanings to get a better understanding of all this.

For our purposes Pure Water is defined as having essentially no dissolved minerals and can be gathered in a number of ways. Each way has their own positives and negatives.

Deionized water is passed through a bed of different resins that take out the dissolved mineral ions. This system can be installed in-line with your plumbing but it can be expansive, this is because the resin beds need replacing or recharging periodically.

Reverse Osmosis can achieve the same results. Water passes through a membrane that has pores small enough to allow water molecules to pass while blocking the flow of dissolved ions.

These household systems can be inexpensive and often need storage tanks for long periods of watering as they only deliver a few ounces of pure water per minute.

Collected Rainwater and Melted snow is water distilled by nature, be careful as where you live can affect the quality of water due to air pollutants.

Purified Water is usually passed through filters to remove compounds and sediments. Although this water can vary in its chemistry, no minerals are removed. One type of water you shouldn't use on your plants is softened water. The sodium levels can be toxic to them.

Spring water often contains plenty of dissolved minerals but gives no positives or advantages for orchid growing, The same goes for well water, just like spring water but pumped locally rather than being bottled.

Lastly we look at tap water. This changes where ever you are on the world map. Coming from rain, wells, rivers, lakes, runoff, etc. Some areas offer water that is virtually mineral free so you need to add fertilizer to your orchids watering to give you all the nutrients needed. Ask your municipal for a water report to see what content levels or chemistry your water has throughout the year.

Being orchid growers or planning to, we like the idea of using pure water for watering our orchids. Also by using a fertiliser designed specifically for providing the correct amounts for the plants mineral intake, we can know exactly what our orchids are getting and manage their nutrition. You’ll have larger and healthier orchids that bloom better than ever.