Using Rainwater for Orchids

[bil]

You forget sometimes that there are good filers available quite cheaply. It just requires thinking outside of the box.

[Orchid Whisperer]

Originally Posted by bil

You forget sometimes that there are good filers available quite cheaply. It just requires thinking outside of the box.

My cone filter is pretty cheap. Although a new one is cheap at about $7.00 U.S., mine actually came from a coffee maker that no longer worked, therefore was free.

If you want better filtration, place paper towel between the cone filter and the funnel. Catches nearly everything. Also very cheap.

[ButterflyJak]

Thank you everyone, it's quite interesting to hear everyone's watering processes. Reminds me when I kept an aquarium!

[bil]

Originally Posted by Orchid Whisperer

My cone filter is pretty cheap. Although a new one is cheap at about $7.00 U.S., mine actually came from a coffee maker that no longer worked, therefore was free.

If you want better filtration, place paper towel between the cone filter and the funnel. Catches nearly everything. Also very cheap.

Like I say, you just have to think outside of the box.

[Subrosa]

My rain water vessel has a thriving population of Ceriodaphnia in it. They must have hitch hiked in on a bird. They're fertilizer for plants and it makes water changes much more fun for the fish.

[Dollythehun]

I use a coffee filter. Actually several. When my filtered water goes into the kitty litter jugs, it is perfectly clear. Then, these black speckles show up. So, we are doing the same thing. I just wonder about the speckles which I filtered out again and they reappeared. Could it be the fertilizer in the water?

[bil]

Originally Posted by Dollythehun

I use a coffee filter. Actually several. When my filtered water goes into the kitty litter jugs, it is perfectly clear. Then, these black speckles show up. So, we are doing the same thing. I just wonder about the speckles which I filtered out again and they reappeared. Could it be the fertilizer in the water?

Might be a life form. Got a small microscope?

[sapphirerose]

My husband and I just put this together. It is kind of a knockoff Rain Saucer (RainSaucers - Balcony Barrel). Super cheap, $9.99 32-gallon trash can from Menards, some window screen, zip ties, straps to hold it to the deck, and the most expensive part, the spigot.

Since my orchids are mostly indoors this will be much more convenient than one off the downspout. I would have to go downstairs to collect rain and bring it back upstairs to water.

We got the idea from this site: A Green Way to Water the Garden - Just Measuring Up








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[Dollythehun]

What a good idea! Thank you sapphirerose!!! I am on that!

[Optimist]

Little black speckles? Maybe, if you have asphalt composition shingles on your house, they are the tiny little pieces of "grit" on those. One problem with getting rain water off of roofs is that any thing on the tile goes into the rainbarrel too. People who actually drink rain water have been known to have "sheds" which they then roof with pvc type roofing that does not shed any particle matter, and keeps the water clean. This water goes into large buried cisterns.