Though tap water is considered filtered, high levels of chlorine remain in the water. It is recommended to use a filtration system to provide the purest water for your family and plants. If the budget does not permit, letting water sit out for 24-hours before watering, experts say, can also remove harmful chemicals.
While using water straight from the tap might seem good enough for your plants, by now we know it's actually highly advisable to put your water through a filtration system prior to watering your plants. Filtered water is not only good for you, but it's great for your plants too.
Run your sink into a watering can, cup, or bucket, and let it sit for a good 24 hours. This will allow chemicals like chlorine and fluoride the time to evaporate from the water. We like to have a full watering can ready to go with still water so that if our soil seems dry, we can water our plant without waiting a day.
No it is not, this is because brita filters contain ion exchange resins that softens water by swapping hard ions like calcium and magnesium for the much softer sodium.
Distilled water is healthy for your houseplants because it's free from chemicals, metals, and other impurities. But—distilled water also eliminates beneficial minerals, so your plants won't grow as quickly as with rainwater or filtered water.
While watering your yard plants with bottled water may be impractical, using bottled spring water for your indoor plants will make a big difference for them. To give your plants the absolute best, rainwater and bottled spring water are your best options. Any water containing sugar or salt will hurt them!
Using distilled water for indoor plants provides a safe and impurity-free source of irrigation that can prevent any toxicity from chemical or mineral buildup. It's also free of contaminants like bacteria.
Best Water for Houseplants
Most tap water should be fine for houseplants unless it is softened because softened water contains salts that can build up in the soil over time and cause problems. Chlorinated water is also safe for most houseplants, but if you have a filtration system, that's much better for your plants.
Give Your Plants the Right Nutrients
You'll also want to ensure that there are no harmful chemicals in your tap water, but that healthy minerals remain. A water filter pitcher like Aquagear will remove contaminants like PFOA/PFOS, PFAS, lead, chlorine, microplastics, trace pharmaceuticals, and more.
Rainwater does not contain chemicals and salts that can build up potted plants. Rainwater is 100% soft water. Free of the salts, minerals, treatment chemicals, and pharmaceuticals that are found in municipal water, groundwater, and surface water, rainwater is pure hydration.
If you use tap water, you may notice that your plants are not growing as tall and strong to the best of their abilities. To reduce the risk of harmful chemicals in your water, allow your tap water to sit out for at least 24 hours before using it to water your plants. This allows the chlorine to dissipate.
Some parts are particularly sensitive to specific chemicals found in tap water. Fluoride is damaging to spider plants, corn plants, prayer-plants, dracaena, and peace lilies.
Your tap water contains things, like lead, chlorine, and pathogens. These are harmful to your plants and will cause problems when you're consistently watering them with this tap water. Besides these chemicals, the temperature of the water can also play a roll when it comes to plant problems.
Luckily, most tap water has already been treated to remove harmful microorganisms. But if you don't change your filter frequently, it can become a breeding ground for any bacteria growing inside.
Filtered water can remove many impurities, including chlorine, and sediment, but it cannot remove all impurities such as heavy metals bacteria and viruses. Distilled water, on the other hand, produces water that is almost pure, with virtually no impurities.
Tap water can contain a wide range of chemicals and contaminants that can hamper plant growth and their ability to thrive. There are several ways to remove these contaminants to make it safe for plants, including letting it stand for a while, boiling the water, or filtering it before watering your plants.
An excess of chlorine is what contributes to brown leaf tips in sensitive plants. These plants include: palms, spider plants, dracaena, azaleas, camellias, gardenias, etc.
The experts suggest using filtered water that is lukewarm and letting the water sit a while as you cut the flower stems. This will help with water absorption – and keep your flowers fresh for longer. And, if you really want to keep flowers fresh in a vase for as long as possible, you need to change the water every day.
But if you're still concerned, simply check the smell of your tap water. If you can smell chlorine, it likely has unusually high chlorine levels. You only need to fill your watering vessel with tap water and leave it for 24-hours before watering your plants. The chlorine will evaporate over this period.
Water for Thought
Bottled water is not a requirement to keep plants healthy. Most houseplants are perfectly fine with plain water as long as it has gone through a filtration system to remove contaminants, pathogens, and parasites. Always make sure your bottled water is pure and clean.
If you are sure your tap water contains chlorine and not chloramine, you can let the water sit for 1-5 days to allow all the chlorine to evaporate. To speed up the evaporation process, aerate the water with an air stone for 12-24 hours or boil the water for 15-20 minutes.
Results: The rainwater and bottled spring water are great at helping plants grow, but the sugar water and salt water actually hurt growing plants. Tap water and distilled water may not hurt the plants, but you'll notice they don't grow as tall and proud as the plants that were fed rain and spring water.
“If you don't give them moisture, their leaves will dry out. If you want new foliage and growth, you need to mist them.” Many houseplants come from subtropical and tropical regions and need a “relative humidity of at least 40 percent,” according to “Reader's Digest Success With House Plants.”
As the theory goes, soaking banana peels releases nutrients like potassium and calcium into the water, which creates an inexpensive, homemade liquid fertilizer.
If you don't have safe bottled water, you should boil your water to make it safe to drink. Boiling is the surest method to kill disease-causing germs, including viruses, bacteria, and parasites. adding a pinch of salt for each quart or liter of boiled water.