Rainwater or Tap Water for Plants? Only After an Insider Explained Did I Realize I'd Been Watering Wrong
In gardening, they say three parts fertilizer and seven parts water - get the watering right, and your flowers will naturally thrive. When it comes to watering plants, many gardening enthusiasts have already summed up plenty of experience. For example, watering should follow "dry-wet cycles" and "water thoroughly once completely dry," watering in the morning or evening is fine, but never water at noon. There are also some little watering tricks, like using rice-washing water or vegetable-washing water to water plants, and so on.
Speaking of which, there's actually one point that gardening enthusiasts may have forgotten - what kind of water is best for growing plants? Tap water, rainwater, or pond water? Next, let's briefly analyze the characteristics of these types of watering water, so you can garden with confidence.
1. The Art of Watering with Tap Water
Using tap water to water plants is perfectly fine. I believe most gardening enthusiasts use tap water. Perhaps you don't know that tap water contains chlorine, which is not good for plant growth. Before use, tap water is best left to sit for a day or exposed to direct sunlight for one to two hours, which can remove some of the chlorine. This avoids affecting the normal growth of flowers and plants.
2. The Art of Watering with Rainwater
Among most types of water used for gardening, rainwater is much better than tap water. As the saying goes, rainwater is "rootless water" - though it's not really that mystical. Rainwater is what nature collects after absorbing water from rivers, lakes, and seas, and then sends back down. Its composition contains quite a few trace elements, and it has no impurities, which is quite beneficial for plant rooting and sprouting. Rainwater isn't very easy to collect and isn't as convenient as tap water, but for gardening enthusiasts, it's best to store some when it rains!
3. The Art of Watering with Pond Water
Pond water, which can also be called pit water, is mostly "living water." Although it contains more impurities, it also contains quite a few nutrients and microorganisms that can promote the activity of plant roots. Before using pond water to water plants, you first need to remove the impurities. Specifically, you can fill a mineral water bottle with pond water, add a bit of alum, stir, and let it sit for 20 minutes, and the impurities will settle. The filtered liquid can then be used to water and grow plants.
In summary, the priority order for watering plants is: pond water > rainwater > tap water.
That's all for sharing knowledge about watering plants. Thank you for reading!
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