A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2007 water softeners

has any one had any experience of water on plants from water softeners? is it good or bad for plants?

Art,
My first reactions to that kind of water would be NO... I always thought that stuff you put in to make the water soft, was SALT based.????
*I am not 100% sure, but that's what I thought*
and I didn't think that stuff was good for plants..

Maybe someone who actually uses it or knows can give you a definate answer one way or the other..

My parents had one for years, and always had a separate faucet with regular tap water, just for the house plants.

The outside faucet was also tap water for the garden.

I wouldn't use very much on your plants.

Would well water from an artesian well be the same as "soft" water?? We will be switching from "city" water to well water when we move and I had not even thought about the water

Artesian Well's are just plain water....
The way it is in the ground is different from
what I thought... and didn't need a pump to come up, something about how the water level is, water gravity pushes it up...

The water softener is something that is added
to the water, I believe is salt based, to soften the water up...

I am not 100% sure though, hopefully someone
with a bit more expertise will come thru to
explain it better...

The softening process removes sodium and other harmful salts. good for laundry and cleaning. If the water is being deionized, then I think it ok for houseplants?

We have a softener hooked only to the hot water.
So I do use the cold water for plants,after it sits and gets room temp.
Outdoor taps are not on system.
I guess this is not very helpful? interesting topic I would love to hear more about.