| Q A few Master Gardeners from Omaha, Nebraska, were reading your culture sheet on
odontoglossum. There is a sentence in the description concerning watering that refers to
"poor-quality water, which will give poor roots and leaf-tip burn." We
were wondering what poor quality water is, in relation to growing orchids, and perhaps
this orchid in particular? How does standard city water compare? A Odontoglossums and other highelevation, cloud-forest orchids, are, as a result of adapting to very pure water in their environment, quite intolerant of poor-quality water. This is best defined as alkaline water, high in dissolved solids. This type of water is most commonly encountered in low rainfall, arid environments, such as southern California, while high rainfall areas, such as the Pacific Northwest, generally have much better water. Some well water can also be high in dissolved solids. When talking about city water, remember that one of the things that cities like to do is add a lot of chlorine for disinfecting the water, and orchids do not generally respond well to this. Never, ever, use water softened in a commercial water softener that uses sodium chloride (table salt). — Ned Nash. |
Reprinted, with permission, from "Orchids" - The Magazine of the American Orchid Society, Sept. 2000.