Flushing Salts

[Slobo]

I'm flushing my plants every 4th watering to help with salts buildup. Until now I used tap water to do this. Is this OK or I should use pure water. I assume this depends on the hardiness of the tap water.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Slobo

[tucker85]

Most tap water is fine to use for flushing. One thing that helps is to flush the plants at least twice. The first watering will help the dry salts to loosen up and maybe even dissolve in the moisture. Then after a few minutes go back and flush again to wash the salts out of the pot.

[Slobo]

Thanks for the advise Tucker. How long the flushing should last? One minute, two....

Greatly appreciate your help.

Slobo

[tucker85]

Originally Posted by Slobo

Thanks for the advise Tucker. How long the flushing should last? One minute, two....

Greatly appreciate your help.

Slobo

The first time is just to get the medium real wet. Just water it like you usually would. I wait about 5 or 10 minutes and then flush real well until the water runs out of the pot. Maybe 30 seconds or so. If you want to be thorough, you can flush a third time. We're not aiming for perfection, just trying to get some of the accumulated salts out.

[tucker85]

Also you may want to change the subject line on this post. Flashing has a whole different connotation.

[Slobo]

Thanks again Tucker.

"Also you may want to change the subject line on this post. Flashing has a whole different connotation."

Sorry for my language flaw.

[WhiteRabbit]

I use tap water as well.

(I've tried to change the thread title, but it's not taking )

[Slobo]

I thought I changed the title.

Oh, I know what you mean.

[camille1585]

Tap water is fine, unless you have salt sensitive orchids like Masdies. I hate wasting water flushing it through a pot, so I first soak the pots in plain water, then take them to the sink and run some water through them to clean out the medium.

I'll also try to change your title, but strange that it doesn't want to!

[camille1585]

Ok, name changed!
Slobo- actually you can't change the title yourself, you need to either be a forum supporter, or be a mod/admin. The only title you can change (and what you probably ended up doing) is changing the post's title.

Sonya- To change a title you don't click 'edit' under the post. You need to go to the 'thread tools' menu at the top of the thread, and then click 'edit thread'.