Why on earth do people water their phals with ice cubes?

[Leafmite]

Originally Posted by Dollythehun

And this is why I am no longer in the nursery business.

People can be so stubborn! I am a believer in science. Sometimes I am wrong and I am delighted to be told so, as long as I can have a scientific explanation or evidence.

My experience with using cold water to water plants was not a good one. It was autumn, I had young children, and I was expected to volunteer at the school, when I noticed that my plants really needed watered. I had collected rain water the day before so I rushed outside to get it and then quickly dumped water on all of the plants. The result? I lost an unknown tropical vine (I believe it was a Stephanotis) and all of its cuttings. Some of the other plants dropped leaves.

Some plants can deal with stress better than others but the less stress you give a plant, the better. It is often already stressful for a tropical plant to grow in one's home under our chosen conditions.