TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk
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Just thought I should add that I am thinking in terms of use for light misting where the pots would be flushed regularily and occasionally misted with distilled water.
Hmm I will try and answer your question on water but feel I must also give my opinion on misting..
Generally speaking sodium is the more problematic ion since it is more poisonous to the plant. Any dissolved solid can cause problems though in high enough concentration.
Light misting with tap water should not cause a problem as long as it not into an enclosed terrarium and runoff into the potting medium is avoided. Expect to see some calcium buildup even if you periodically mist with distilled water. As the tapwater evaporates the calcium carbonate ions form calcium oxide which is very insoluable. (this is why calcium buildup is so hard to remove and often takes an acidic solution to dissolve).
Personally I don't see much point to misting for humidity purposes. It is fairly ineffective as the moisture dissapates very quickly so any benefit to the plant is gone in very short order.
Misting for temperature control sounds fine. The plants shouldn't be getting wet if your running misters for this purpose. You might have problems with excess water and disease on the plants if they do. I use well water through underbench misting and it does a good job for keeping the temps down. The fine mist just floats around the greenhouse but the plants don't get wet.
Tony
There is a lot of dissolved calcium in the water here, so much so that you can see white marks on the leaves after spraying the plants just one or two times. After a little experimentation I found a HUGE difference in the health of my Nepenthes when I use water from a deep well which has much less dissolved calcium. They grew better and generally appeared much more healthy.
Maehem if the water you are using runs down into the plant media I would recommend you try and use RO water or similar.
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