I am not an expert, by any means, but my Spider Plant has the same problem, hates tap water. Distilled was getting out of hand~~ soooo, I went and got a small water filter, that has it's own picher,1/4 gal (just to see). Takes some to get a gallon, but for me it is worth it. Ma-ma Spider Plant loves it and I water most my plants with it. And I am not spending a lot of money on distilled water.

Just a suggestion is all~~ :) I'm sure there are more to come.
Marjie

Aquafina is a product of Pepsico. It is tap water that is supposedly filtered, so if that is true, impurities such as fluoride, lime, and chlorine/chloramine would be removed. That's good.

Some plants are more fussy about this, no doubt, peace lily, spider, Dracaena...

Has distilled gotten more expensive? I thought it was well under $1 per gallon, but haven't bought any in years... thinking about getting some for these darn Dracs.

I fill up old bottles and let them sit out for several days with the cap off so that harmful chemicals in the water can dissipate. No need to buy anything extra! Thi was something I discovered when caring for tadpoles and it seems to do the trick for my plants as well.

The only harmful chemical in water that CAN evaporate, AFAIK, is chlorine.

For me it's the salts too that destroy the pristine looks of my leaves and definitely would destroy my crop of orchids.

So I collect all the rain water I can and use that throughout the year. What a difference I will tell you. Some of my plants have never seen a drop of faucet water unless I ran out of the rain water for a very short period of time or gave them a shower.

Mike

No, Distilled hasn't gone up in price, still runs around a buck, but when you don't have that one dollar.. well, yeah, welcome to my world.. The water filter works great for me, Just saying...

In WA there are distilled water machines all over the place, you just put in the jug and fill it up, cost about .35 cents per gallon, that was great! but here? Nobody has any. One thing I do miss about WA..

Marjie :)

I'm very familiar with that world, just brought it up as an alternative to water bought for people to drink. If it's just while plants are inside during winter, it wouldn't take much. I haven't yet watered any of the plants I brought inside on Nov. 24. They all had a good soak the day before, the 23rd. At $1 per gallon, I sure wouldn't be overwatering!

.35 per gallon would be great!

This whole thing is ironic. It costs more for water with LESS stuff in it. Go figure.

As always, yall are awesome.

Lamora- wouldnt the cost of distilled be the same as the filter you have, because you have to replace those filters. Just wondering.

And I was also thinking the rain water, but it hasnt rained here for a while, so until I get enough stored up, I need an alternative. Also, how long can you keep rain water? Silly question I know, but all I can picture is being told not to collect rain water to attract mosquitos. I know , stupid question but whatever, I threw it out there.

If it has a lid, mosquitoes can't breed in it. And you've already had snow. So you're mosquito-free until spring.

Hi Purple! How's it going down there in the warm country!?

Tiff, I have never had a mosquito issue with sitting water in 30 gallon barrels in my basement or outside after the frost.
I will tell you that using rain water has saved me a whole lot of work, money, and frustration with bottle water and or marred leaves.

Mike>;-)

It's great down here! (This time of year.)

Even outside, uncovered water is OK for about a week, depending on temperature, so there is some variance. It takes a little longer than that for a mosquito to lay an egg, the egg to hatch, and to mature into an adult. I don't mind if there are wigglers in my water outside, as long as it gets used/dumped before they mature. Once you dump the water out (like into a pot,) they will die, they must be in standing water until they mature into a winged adult. I think it's cool when that happens because if the mosquito had laid eggs elsewhere, they might have had a chance to mature. However many eggs get laid in my water are mosquitoes that will never get to adulthood.

Covering a catch barrel with a screen to prevent access makes sure you don't get any mosquito eggs laid in your water. If you leave it open and want to keep the water longer than that (about a week,) just put it in a jug with a lid. That prevents new eggs from being laid in it, and any wigglers that hatch in there can't escape if they do mature.