Rainwater and Steam Distilled Water

[HiOrcDen]

So during this last winter, there was a very unprecedented, for many years, period of frequent and torrential rains, maybe about 3 weeks (memory can be like a sieve lol)

So with all this constant rain, for such a long time, I was maybe surprised to see that there were no ill effects to any of my orchids, which are outside of course. I have some in sphagnum, some in bark, and some in both.

So then I have to wonder, do the qualities of pure rainwater make it so that the Orchids cannot receive too much of it?

I should also add that, not only were there no ill effects, but growth was spurred somewhat, even without much sunlight.

So, is not steam distilled (specifically distilled with a steam distiller) water exactly the same as rainwater, just as pure?? And therefore, is it possible that one cannot really overwater with steam distilled water. So then is it possible that you can just water a good amount, every day, with steam distilled water, and not only not worrying about overwatering, but actually get enhanced growth?

Ray has told me that steam distillation is energy intensive, as far as your electric bill. However I only use about a gallon per day at most. And likely in the near future I will at most double my collection.

So any insight would be greatly appreciated!

[estación seca]

For the great majority of orchids having always moist roots is not a problem. In fact, with other growing conditions good, watering a lot leads to more growth.

Lacking air at the roots is a problem.

I don't think there's a difference between rain, reverse osmosis nor tap water except in plants that don't do well with the extra minerals in tap water.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by HiOrcDen

So then I have to wonder, do the qualities of pure rainwater make it so that the Orchids cannot receive too much of it?

It’s not the chemical properties of the water as much as it is the way rain is “applied”.

Rain tends to fall at fractions of an inch per hour as fairly widely spaced drops. As each drop hits the medium it is dispersed and trickles through the medium, being absorbed and running along the surface of the medium particles, rather than flooding the entire volume, which allows water to be “grabbed” by surface tension and held in the voids.

We are in the middle of an offshore low that is expected to give us 3” of rain today. That’s an average of 1/8” or roughly 9.6 ounces per hour per square foot of pot surface. Those Phrag dalessandroi plants I posted are in 2.25” square pots, so they are basically getting about 1/3 ounce of rain today, or 0.00267 ounces per second.

My garden hose, with a “rain head” water breaker, puts out about 5 gallons per minute over an area of about 1 square foot. It takes about 2 seconds to completely flood those phrag pots, so that’s the equivalent of about 2.5 ounces per second (I’m assuming 50% void space in the pot), or about 1000 times faster than the heavy rain.

[Louis_W]

I think rainwater is awesome, but i dont agree that it has a special property that makes it impossible to overwater. Ask hawaiian growers, most of the nurseries out there lose their plants of they let them sit out in the rain

[Roberta]

There's nothing magic about rainwater... it's much lower in solids that the "liquid rocks" that comes out of the tap in southern California, certainly beneficial. But as Ray notes, it's the "application process", relatively low volume over a long time, that produces the "special effect".

The rain this winter was loved by my orchids. The raindrops entrain lots of air. It's steady, but it does eventually stop. My plants got much better hydrating of the media with the hours of slow, steady water then from the few minutes' blast from hose or sprinklers. And they got lots of air, both from flow through the pots and from what was entrained in the raindrops. Ray has made the point at various times (and worth repeating!) , that orchids suffer not from too much water, but from not enough air. Also worth repeating, you can't overwater a mounted plant. If it is in medium, it needs to be well drained with lots of air spaces, and then while overwatering is possible, it's less likely than if the medium is soggy. It's all about air (humid air) in the root zone!

[Dimples]

Another important variable is that this all happened outside. The cold season in southern california typically includes a decent breeze or wind, all the time. Three weeks of wet and breezy weather with highs in the 50s and 60s is exactly what most plants left outside in that weather want.

[Roberta]

Before getting too deep into the weeds... it helps to remember that long before they became our pampered "pets", orchids evolved as plants! In nature, plants get their water from rain. Of course, they have also adapted to their natural substrate (like trees and rocks) and to a particular climate. So the ideal combination is long, slow hydration combined with perfect drainage, excellent air movement, and whatever temperature each one needs. We interfere by putting them in pots (where the drainage is often less than perfect) and we have neither the time, nor the water availability, in most cases, for that long, slow hydration. We have only a limited repertoire of temperatures, and air movement requires some engineering especially indoors. Everything we do is a compromise. Nature does it best, and the closer we can come to that, the better the plants grow.

[HiOrcDen]

Originally Posted by Roberta

Before getting too deep into the weeds... it helps to remember that long before they became our pampered "pets", orchids evolved as plants! In nature, plants get their water from rain. Of course, they have also adapted to their natural substrate (like trees and rocks) and to a particular climate. So the ideal combination is long, slow hydration combined with perfect drainage, excellent air movement, and whatever temperature each one needs. We interfere by putting them in pots (where the drainage is often less than perfect) and we have neither the time, nor the water availability, in most cases, for that long, slow hydration. We have only a limited repertoire of temperatures, and air movement requires some engineering especially indoors. Everything we do is a compromise. Nature does it best, and the closer we can come to that, the better the plants grow.

Thank you for this, I can appreciate the concept!

I was wondering, what about this type of setup...

I have found a system where you can set up a small sprinkler system with a pump in a reservoir, perhaps a high drinking water jug, or something bigger.

So, suppose I use a steam distiller to produce very pure water. What if I set up this sprinkler system to sprinkle lightly at frequent intervals throughout the day. Wouldn't this be somewhat like a light rain throughout the day? (Or if possible (don't know if this'd work better or worse) have a constant light sprinkle all day)

And since you mentioned that you cannot overwater a mounted orchid... why not mount all Orchids and sprinkle throughout the day with the steam distilled water? (I'm sure there's a good answer, just wondering what that might be!)

I am very curious, though, whether the first setup I described would work well??

[Ray]

Your “mount and mist” concept is a very valid way to grow plants. Controlling the mist/spray/drip overflow is probably the biggest issue.

I really don’t know why you insist on using distilled water, as that is purer than the rainwater the plants get in the wild, meaning it is unnecessary, you must stop and descale the heater periodically, you need to have that water cool before it is used, and it seems pretty wasteful of energy to me.

The stills I have used (many years ago) used running water as the coolant to get the strap to condense, which is pretty wasteful. I imagine electric refrigeration is the method these days, but that’s more energy consumption.

Can that be automated to stop when you’ve accumulated enough water?

An RO system, which produces sufficiently pure water, does use excess water, but that can be minimized and potentially used, instead of dumped, as you desire. It requires no electricity, can be setup to keep the irrigation feed tank full automatically, and maintenance is a simple “cartridge” replacement process.

[Roberta]

I also don't see the point of distilling water. What a waste of energy! It is also useful to note that the vast majority of orchids don't need pure water at all. Save the RO for the sensitive ones, use city water on the rest. Keep it simple!