question about water

[Gail]

I read in our paper today that you should not water orchids from the tap if you have a water softener. Have others found this to be true? Thanks in advance. Gail

[Kenni Judd]

Absolutely. You might as well use sea water. Even the Potassium Chloride softeners are touchy (we tried that before we went to RO). Kenni

[Bob Walsh]

Gail,

You might check to see if your kitchen cold water faucet is softened. Frequently this is not the case.

[jankey]

i also read somewhere that sometimes the outside spigots bypass the water softener unit....

--j_a

[Gail]

[Bob Walsh]

Gail,

It may or may not have been the cause.

What kind of Orchids did you lose and do you still have?

How do you determine when to water them?

Do you fertilize them? How much? With what? How often?