I'm starting to dive into houseplant care and I've come across a bit of a debate about the best type of water for plants. Aside from rainwater, it seems like the two main contenders are distilled and spring water. I understand that distilled water lacks minerals while spring water has quite a few—sometimes even too many. Since rainwater is kind of the middle ground, I was wondering if it would make sense to mix spring water with distilled water to achieve a similar mineral content to rainwater. If that's a viable option, does anyone know what the ideal ratio would be?
3 Answers
I've been caring for plants for about six years now and honestly, tap water usually does the trick for most plants! Sure, some sensitive ones like calatheas might not like it, but I've had great results with ferns and African violets using tap water that I've let sit overnight to off-gas any chlorine. If I had to choose, I'd probably opt for mineral water over distilled—maybe go for a 1:1 mix if you really want to. Just remember, a good fertilizer is essential too!
Rainwater is my go-to when I can get it! When I can't, I just fill up a bucket with tap water and leave it uncovered for a day to let the chlorine dissipate. Sometimes I add a bit of a fish-tank neutralizer to further improve the quality. It's simple and has worked well for my plants, but if you're looking to mix distilled and spring water, I'd recommend trying it out and adjusting based on what your plants prefer!
Honestly, I think using distilled water is a great idea! You can just add some water-soluble fertilizer to it to give your plants the nutrients they need. In my experience, RO water (which is similar to distilled) works wonders, so I’d lean towards that over spring water because of the control you get with distilled. Just be mindful of the minerals if you’re trying to achieve specific TDS levels!