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Tap water for neps?

I have a good freind that grows lowland nepenthes with tap water and he has been doing it ever since he got into them. And I was wondering if it is ok to do it. I just started watering my highland nepenthes with tap water less than a week ago and everything is fine, but I was wondering if the nepenthes will grow better with RO water.
The last time I checked the water was around 280 ppm

any advice is great,
Matt
 
Yeah. Maybe you can use it on that N. gymnamphora you got for a steal :) Let us know how that works out.
 
Matt,
I've done it for years. But it depends on your water! If you are willing to risk the plant, then go ahead. You really won't know until you try. I don't think there are as many hard-fast rules as folks believe.
Use common sense however. If you see your plant suffering, it might be time to run fresh water thru the pot to flush out any accumulated salts (or repot if necessary), and then start using rain/distilled water. Any plant we can fertlize can tolerate a degree of "salts".
Good Luck.
 
Nepenthes are pretty forgiving when it comes to hard water as far as I know.

They could probably take it. Mine were fine with sprinkler water...haha. I took them out of the range of fire after a while, though, because I got nervous.
 
Hi, Matt.
My tap water is around 100ppm and after 2-3 years, the whole potting mix needs to be changed as some species will show decline in their growth. After about 6 months, salt deposits can be observed in the saucers and around the edge of the pots. Overhead watering heavily or the occasional heavy downpour helps to flush the minerals out.
 
Yeah, if you use tap water, repot every year, and flush the pots through from time to time. 280ppm is pushing it. Some people get away with things, though. I know a guy who grows great nepenthes, and he uses tap water and miracle gro. Go figure.

Capslock
 
I've been growing my Nepenthes Ventricosa with tap water for more than half a year now. It's growing really fast and the pitchers are drooling nectar, literally dripping nector from the pitchers.

I guess it works.
 
It really depends on the chemistry of your tap water; mineral salts are part of that, but in my house, there is enough copper and zinc ions (from the plumbing) that a small drip in the shower/bath will leave a blue green streak in the fixture by th end of the day. These things are very toxic to all plants. It also depends on how you water your plants; if you add just enough water to wet the media each time, those salts will accumulate faster than if you drenched the pot, and let the wate flow though for a few minutes, flushing out the pot. - Rich
 
Excess minerals in the media or water need to be utilised and only way is to increase the light intensity. With very good light throughout the year, Neps can take higher mineral content in their water. If you have got gloomy days for months, use softer water.

I have managed to get away with pouring diluted orchid fertilisers into the media for a couple of years before needing to repot because of the weather here. But during the rainy season from October to December, I stay clear of fertilisers.
 
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