Plastic tubs 2 burn off chlorine in tap water-Healthy?+misc.

[SECRETGARDEN]

Hi! (New to this site.) Would like 2 know...since my only source of H20 for watering 23 pots of newly planted veggie patio plants (& some that are seeded) is city tap water, I just was reminded at a local store to discontine use of chlorinated water unless I allow the water to stand for a few days to burn off the chlorine. (-which means that since I was foolish to not collect rainwater from the torrential rains we just had this past week...I will have to purchase filtered water temporarily. (I live in an apt. complex & won't be allowed to use a rainbarrel, unfortunately.) (I noticed that my tomato plants...which are up 3 ft. in 2 wks. could have thicker growth (although it's not too bad as it is). I also have a rich potting soil with time-release fertilizer and composted manure in it (and today just added "Tomato Tone" to further feed the plants...& will do again every 2 wks.) Does letting the H20 stand.... make the water safe enough for the plants? If so, how many days should I let the chlorine evaporate? 2 days enough? Also, I will have to get 1 or 2 lge. & cheap tubs for this in order to have enough H20. Are the plastic tubs safe?..or will they leach out bad chemicals into the H20 that I just burned off the chlorine from? Should another type of container be used for that? (I've wondered about this for my veggie plants in some plastic pots as well.) Pls. write asap as I need to change how I'm doing this from day to day otherwise with the water (& possibly replant the young plants back into clay pots b4 they get larger). Thanks! (Not necessary to go on & on about the value of rainwater or rainwater w/compost tea --I'm already up to speed on that.)

[Kisal]

According to the utility company in my city, a gallon container of water should be free of chlorine within 24 hours. I think the time required for larger volumes might depend on the ratio of the depth to the surface area.

I would try to find food-safe containers, or perhaps, use galvanized metal tubs, rather than plastic. JMO.

[SECRETGARDEN]

Thank you, JMO (or Kisal).
I'm assuming that you mean to use galvanized metal containers for the plants themselves (those that I'm willing to re-pot) as well as the containers for the water (for evaporating the chlorine), right? Plus, I've been trying to wrap door screening (by the yard) around the water container that I'm presently using...and it won't work unless I put it around in a more permanent way (to keep mosquitoes from laying their eggs in it). This brings me to another matter...I'm assuming that it is wiser to have the water evaporate outside on my patio rather than inside my apt., right? It probably goes faster too? If outside is better...then I have to find a way to get this screen on it. (I hate to say this, but if I would have thought this idea out more ahead of time....esp. with the water issue, I probably would have stuck with a few flower plants and got the rest of my veggies at the local Farmers' Market (or gone to their local farms). I had the right intentions in mind, but am paying in other ways for too much attention being paid to this patio garden...for too long a period of time. (Well, it didn't help that we had multiple thunderstorms with torrential downpours this past week...causing me to constantly move the pots...sometimes several times a day! I think I'm going to get a greenhouse and live in the country in the future! (At least I won't have a balcony over my patio...and less water hassles!) ---Live and learn....(Thanks though for your quick answer.) "D"

[Kisal]

No, I meant you should use galvanized tubs as containers for the water you wanted to dechlorinate ... but I didn't realize that your plants were in containers. How many plants do you have, and how large are the containers? Do you know how much water you'll need each time you water them?

I'm confused, now, about why you need chlorine-free water for all of your plants. Only a few species are particularly sensitive to it. Not many farmers, including those who follow organic practices, have access to chlorine-free water to irrigate their acreage.

(JMO stands for Just My Opinion. )

[SECRETGARDEN]

I have 23 pots, (5 of which are holding various types of tomatoes - Juliet (red salad type), Lemon Boy, Roma, and another kind that is like a Roma but is meatier & supposed to be loaded w/more lycopene than other kinds). I also have numerous sweet pepper (and a few jalapeno peppers) (1 or 2 in a 10" pot), fennel, cilantro, rosemary, spinach, mesclun (gourmet salad greens), & still might plant swiss chard seeds (plenty time for that to grow yet even in my zone (n.e. WI). Only 3 pots are clay or pottery (2 of which I intentionally put plastic liners in (thin plastic) so they wouldn't get wrecked (because I want to use them inside my apt. again). I bought more clay pots to transplant some of the plants into because I see that they are not doing all that great in the plastic. I know you're not supposed to transplant them a second time, but I think with special care they will be fine if I do that. Anyway, I can't spend any more $ on galvanized tubs or anything...so I am just going to let the water evaporate in a lge. plastic garbage can (a clean white one)...and just use that. My neighbors say I'm getting too overly concerned about using the tap water...and it sounds like you agree. In fact, you have relieved my anxiety about that. I just assumed that the chemicals in the water are taken up into the plant...which they probably are...but maybe not so much in the fruit it bears? It seems like it would be in the veggies too. (What species are the most sensitive to chlorine? If you don't know right off hand, don't spend time on that...I'll look it up online.) If I one day have my own home again ...with my own well, wouldn't I be free of chlorine then for my garden? Just wondering. I grew up on well water in the country (& it tasted SO good. I now buy filtered water to drink...instead of using city water.
(Sorry about the "JMO" --I'm very overtired..and totally forgot what that stood for. You must have got a hoot out of that! (:-)--"D"
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UPDATE: #1.) I no longer leave standing water in containers outside on my patio or inside to burn off the chlorine. It just creates a pond for mosquitoes to lay their eggs! I went back to using my city tap water...and plants are doing well.

[Kisal]

I grew up on well water, too. Whether your well water will be "pure" or not will depend on the soil where you live. One of the wells on our property was contaminated with arsenic, so couldn't be used for drinking or cooking purposes. Wells in some parts of the U.S. have water that contains a lot of fluoride.

I use plastic containers for all of my plants, with the exception of my cacti. I do that because it reduces the amount of watering I have to do. Other than that, I haven't found any great difference between plants grown in plastic containers and plants grown in unglazed clay. Again, just my opinion. Others may feel differently.

[SECRETGARDEN]

Hi (sorry the last post got longer again):
I understand your thinking on using plastic pots. After reevaluating this more, I believe that I might have mixed my soil combinations slightly different in some of my plastic pots...and whenever I used more of the cheap potting soil, I have poorer drainage. I think the answer is to use more of (if not all) of the more expensive (moisture control or not) potting mixes. (The lady who sold me the tomato plants said it was fine to use the cheapest soil because tomato plants have strong roots that push through the harder soils. Not sure if I agree with that. So, I mixed soils in all the pots...and the last planting of tomatoes has the most of the more expensive potting mix....and it seems to be having a stronger start. The bottom line is....I'm not sure if some of the tomato plants are doing better than the others because of better drainage or because of the type of tomato it is. (More weeks need to go by first before I will know for certain.)

I did not realize that organic farmers use chlorinated water. That's an interesting issue.

Oh, yes, --re: Whether I know how much water I need. I know how many times I have to fill up my watering can during previous watering sessions...so I can make a pretty good guess of what needed to be put in the plastic garbage can (for evaporation).

Have a nice weekend...and thx again.