what to do when you run out of rain water??

[DirtyCoconuts]

Very cool. Condesation?

[Subrosa]

Originally Posted by DirtyCoconuts

Very cool. Condesation?

Yup! One of the benefits and curses of living in the mountains is lots of foggy nights, particularly in the fall. I moved here in September of '17, and when I woke up after the first morning here I noticed water trickling from one of the downspouts when I took my dog for a walk. It was obvious that it hadn't rained the night before, so I knew I'd hit the jackpot in regards to collecting rain water. On the other hand, driving foggy mountain roads at night can be a white knuckle experience!

[buffalo]

Have to admit plants do respond to rain water better than tap water. I use RO water in a pinch back to tap water

[JScott]

I used RO water back when I kept reef aquariums and I had an RO unit, because pure water is an absolute necessity for reef aquariums. i eventually gave up the aquariums, then my RO unit broke, so I just switched to city water for my plants. Noticed no ill effects, and I still use city water to this day, so I think that should be your plan B until you get more rain water.

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by buffalo

Have to admit plants do respond to rain water better than tap water. I use RO water in a pinch back to tap water

Not sure ------ I think it could possibly be due to fertilising and mag/cal schedule too. They say the rain water can contain nitrates etc ... well, much more than in tap water.

So if the orchid doesn't get adequate nutrients already, then they could respond visibly well when rain water comes along.

[Fuerte Rav]

you guys make me so envious - rain water! - we had 13mm in the whole of 2019

and my tap water is desalinated ..... (on the days it flows , on the other days the goats have managed to nibble through the municipal pipe to have a drink themselves! We have a 2000L reserve tank for the house for these occasions!)

makes growing any plants, not just orchids, a challenge. At least the garden plants can have the 'grey' water - and they seem to thrive on it (No main sewage systems here, we all have our own tanks in which to process ALL our waste from kitchens and bathrooms which then gets pumped around the garden at night.)

[DirtyCoconuts]

wow!

that's a different universe!