My parents just purchased an indoor bonsai tree for me and I was wondering what type of water would be better for it: Tap, tap through a filter, or natural mountain spring water.
Thanks
Tap water can mean a couple of different types of water. Do you have a well? or do you live in a city and get city water?
City water is often treated and softened and can be hard on plants. If you have a well, then you will probably be fine with that, but keep an eye on your soil and watch for mineral build up, as well water tends to be pretty hard. Depending on what kind of filter you are talking about, this may or may not due the trick. Some filters simply send the water through activated carbon (carbon which has been made extremely porous), kind of like whats used for fish tanks. This should be fine too, though if your water is softened, it may not do the trick to get everything out of the water. Other filters use chemicals to help purify the water and are probably not a good idea.
By mountain spring water, are you talking about bottled water? This would probably be just fine for your tree, but it adds extra expense, and some bottled waters are hard too (some of them even advertise their solid ppm). Or, depending on where you live, you can even collect rain water if there is enough available and the air is not polluted.
If you are really worried about it, you can buy or make distilled water, which will not have chemicals in it nor will it be hard (just don't drink too much of it yourself or you will end up with stomach cramps).
fem
City water is often treated and softened and can be hard on plants. If you have a well, then you will probably be fine with that, but keep an eye on your soil and watch for mineral build up, as well water tends to be pretty hard. Depending on what kind of filter you are talking about, this may or may not due the trick. Some filters simply send the water through activated carbon (carbon which has been made extremely porous), kind of like whats used for fish tanks. This should be fine too, though if your water is softened, it may not do the trick to get everything out of the water. Other filters use chemicals to help purify the water and are probably not a good idea.
By mountain spring water, are you talking about bottled water? This would probably be just fine for your tree, but it adds extra expense, and some bottled waters are hard too (some of them even advertise their solid ppm). Or, depending on where you live, you can even collect rain water if there is enough available and the air is not polluted.
If you are really worried about it, you can buy or make distilled water, which will not have chemicals in it nor will it be hard (just don't drink too much of it yourself or you will end up with stomach cramps).
fem