Water high in boron

[Richard94571]

I live in an area with water high in boron. There are certain plants like azaleas you can't grow well or at all here because of it. I believe the water here is around 1000 ppm and 1200 is the uppr limit for drinking water. Will boron affect orchids in a negative way. I'm having to distill more and more water now my collection is growing.

PS don't drink the water if you're ever in Rio Vista.

[Ross]

I don't know much about boron, but orchids in general desire pretty pure water like they would get from rain in nature. You can collect rainwater like lots of folks here do, you can distill the water or you can use an R.O. unit (reverse osmosis) like others here do (myself included). Hope this helps.

[ScottMcC]

home RO units are surprisingly inexpensive to buy (under $200 at Lowes). as long as you have someone semi-knowledgeable in plumbing, they're apparently not that hard to install. the expense comes in changing the $40 filter every 4 months or so.

my wife and I are getting one in a few weeks once we move into our new house. we'd have one now if the apartment would let us.

[Ross]

You can also rent them from Culligen who will do install and provide filters, all in the rental cost. Mine is $19.50 per month for all the water I can pump!

[IdahoOrchid]

Originally Posted by rsfrid

You can also rent them from Culligen who will do install and provide filters, all in the rental cost. Mine is $19.50 per month for all the water I can pump!

In three years you could have bought your system (not including filter changes). We bought our culligan system rather than a less expensive (Home improvement or ebay) one because we KNOW that they will be there in the coming years. Some of those ebay companies, maybe they are not there next week?

[Ray]

Fortunately, most RO systems use reasonably standard components, so getting filters and membranes is pretty easy.