This seems silly and maybe it's nonsense, but I was wondering if I water my window pots with water from my Brita pitcher, would they be healthier? If I watered one with filtered water and the other with normal tap water, would the filtered one have more flowers and be stronger in general? I wonder if I ought to install some kind of filter for my hose outside to water my rose gardens? Does this make any sense at all!?

Is your water chlorinated? I think that's one of the things that the Brita filters remove?

Hi KellyTgardener,
Your filter will take out chlorine, fluoride and some metals (like lead and copper) from the tap water which is a good thing! So, I don't think you are imagining it at all, the plants are probably happier because they are getting a more purified water.

Cross posted with woofie!

Yes, but you posted a more detailed response, Lin.
I think house plants are more sensitive, partly because they are in a more confined environment. We had chlorinated water where I lived in SoCal, and it never seemed to cause any problems with the outdoor plants.

Some cities use a lot more chlorine in their water than others. At out old house, the city water was so heavily chlorinated you could smell it when you turned on the tap! I try to use filtered water for my indoor plants, the outside plants get watered from the irrigation system; which is well water.

Certain plants are more sensitive to the chemicals in city tap water. I think spider plants are one of them.

KellyT;
Hello from Southern Colorado! Aside from all the stuff already mentioned, it needs to be said that if you live east of the Mississippi you will have calcium in your water as well (with the exception of constantly rainy areas like the P.N.W.). I'd go with a calcium filter first and see how that works out.

Thank you very much for your replies, very helpful and they make a lot of sense!

josebaca said:KellyT;
Hello from Southern Colorado! Aside from all the stuff already mentioned, it needs to be said that if you live east of the Mississippi you will have calcium in your water as well (with the exception of constantly rainy areas like the P.N.W.). I'd go with a calcium filter first and see how that works out.

Hmm, I'm not too familiar with calcium filters. Does this look like the right kind of filter? https://whatwaterfilter.com/pe...
Thanks for your help.

plantladylin said:Some cities use a lot more chlorine in their water than others. At out old house, the city water was so heavily chlorinated you could smell it when you turned on the tap!

Not exactly correct. Some cities use different forms of chlorine in their water. Most are moving toward the use of chloramines rather than the chlorine that will evaporate out of water. Chloramine forms are relatively stable in water and have the propensity to cause more plant damage because more of the chlorine stays in the soil longer. This is very unfortunate for us plant growers. Conversely, the chlorine added to water that can evaporate from water is much less detrimental, and if you allow your water to set out for a few hours or more before your water plants, it is benign because it is essentially not in the water anymore.

So if you smell chlorine in your municipal water, that is a good thing: you know that you can easily remove it from the water. There is no simple way to remove chloramines other than filters of some type. Your city office should be able to tell you if your water is treated with chloramines, and while you're at it, they can tell you the pH range that they maintain, too.


Edited for grammar

Leftwood said:

Not exactly correct. Some cities use different forms of chlorine in their water. Most are moving toward the use of chloramines rather than the chlorine that will evaporate out of water. Chloramine forms are relatively stable in water and have the propensity to cause more plant damage because more of the chlorine stays in the soil longer. This is very unfortunate for us plant growers. Conversely, the chlorine added to water that can evaporate from water is much less detrimental, and if you allow your water to set out for a few hours or more before your water plants, it is benign because it is essentially not in the water anymore.

So if you smell chlorine in your municipal water, that is a good thing: you know that you can easily remove it from the water. There is no simple way to remove chloramines other than filters of some type. Your city office should be able to tell you if your water is treated with chloramines, and while your at it, they can tell you the pH range that they maintain, too.

I agree 100%. I keep 3 gallon containers full so I always have water that has out gassed the chlorine. Chloramines need a filter to remove. There are $30 "spa" inline hose filters that can filter thousands of gallons. I use one for outdoor potted plants.

Any recommendations on how to filter chlorine/chloramine out of hose water? We live in the desert and have a lot to water. The inline filters I've seen are the throwaway types. Is there some type in which you could change out the filter? We hand water everything with a garden hose. Thank you for any help.

A hose filter like this should work. I've found if you seal them in a baggie when not using they last longer.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EVRTZA8/

Water really influences on state of plates. You should be careful of hard water and minerals which are added in water from market.

This makes sense, of course. The water you water your plants plays an important role in how they grow. Tap water is filtered for human safety, however plants disagree with many of the chemicals used in the process. Some plants are more sensitive than others, such as palms, which are highly sensitive to fluoride. In addition, tap water may contain softening salts that can be harmful to plants. A white film on the soil is a sign that the water has too much sodium, which is poorly absorbed by plants. Finally, water that has the wrong pH level can damage plants. Some plants cannot tolerate chlorinated tap water, while other plants have difficulty with soft water.

Right, except the white film on the soil thing. If that was really sodium, your plants would be dead. No, that is calcium.

edited for grammar

FYI, originally almost a 4 year old thread, in case someone wanted to reply to the OP.