What Dimples says is right on... First, most orchids aren't all that sensitive. At the Huntington Botanic Gardens, experience has shown that THEIR well water (high calcium) works better for their Paphs than pure water. (But then, most Paphs grow on limestone cliffs...) Other orchids not so much... everything else there gets RO water.
Before I got my RO system, I used a little vinegar in my fertilizer water to get the pH down to about 6.5 since the calcium carbonate in my tap water is a powerful buffer at around 7.8. With pure water, one needs a fertilizer that supplies some calcium and magnesium. Or mix in a bit of tap water with the pure water. I have a rather large collection, spread over my whole back yard. Only my small patio area and greenhouse get RO water. I put the more sensitive plants such as the Pleurothallids in the RO area. Everybody else gets city water (from sprinklers) and does just fine. I use RO and fertilizer designed for it (MSU Cal-Mag) to fertilize everything, but that's for simplicity. The plants that get city water would be fine getting fertilized with it, but I want to mix up just one batch, it works for everything.
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