Attention gardeners! Does your plant thrive in an acidic environment? Does it need more calcium in its diet? As a gardener, you may already know a lot about growth cycles and soil types, but don’t forget to pay attention to your plants’ most vital resource – water!
Tap Water
While we can drink water from the tap, the tap water we drink has many additives to make it safe (or beneficial) to us. These additives can include salt, chlorine or fluoride. That said, this differs depending on if you have mains or well water, and you can learn about the differences between mains and well water here. If you want to water your plants, it may be better to use distilled or filtered water.
Rainwater
In our post about five ways to conserve water at home, we mention that you can collect rainwater to water your plants. In Ireland, our plants are lucky to have an abundance of rainfall, but even Ireland had a drought during the summer. To make sure you benefit from Ireland’s rain, make sure to collect your rainwater in some container. Typically, your plants benefit from rainwater, so make sure to take advantage when you can.
Softened Water
Many parts of Ireland have a lot of lime, which leads to many households in Ireland having hard water. In our post on if hard water is bad for you, we talk about how hard water isn’t bad for you, but it is for your appliances. However, we can say the same for some of your plants. Some plants thrive with more acidic soil and water, such as ericaceous plants. For these plants, you can use soft water instead. If you live in a hard-water area, you might want to check out our water softener systems here.
As well as the type of water you are using, you should also be careful of the quantity. Some plants need more (or less!) water than others. The best thing to do is to know your plants and to make sure each of them has a tailored watering regime.
If you have any questions for us, or if you are interested in a unit, please don’t hesitate to reach out to use here.