Most of you know that carnivorous plants are particular about water. When I got my very first plant At World's Rare Plants, I was advised to use distilled water whenever possible. Another alternative is to use reverse osmosis water, but this is pretty expensive to set up and is also inefficient in terms of water usage. When I only had one pot of plants, it was easy to use distilled water, and it would take me a while to use up a gallon (which I would get at the supermarket for around $1). Now that my collection has grown, it would be quite challenging to continue to buy enough distilled water to water everything.
You can imagine my surprise when a fellow local grower suggested I might be able to use tap water, depending on the mineral and salt content of our local water supply. One way to check was to get a TDS meter. TDS stands for "total dissolved solids."
A TDS meter estimates how much dissolved solid there is by measuring conductivity. Ideally, you want to have the lowest number possible. Some people have told me to use water that is 100 ppm (parts per million or mg/L) or less. Others have told me to use 60 ppm or less. Fortunately, the meter was easy to find on Amazon and was relatively inexpensive (many available models at ~$10-$15 each).
The first one I got (in 2018) only lasted a year before the probes corroded, so I do not recommend that one (and it is now discontinued). I replaced it with this one and it has been working well for me for about a year now. I make sure to leave the protective cap off after I use it to ensure the probes are completely dry before capping it (just in case that was what happened with my first one).
I test my tap water approximately once weekly. I am very lucky that our tap water averages 5-20 ppm in non-winter months and then increases to about 100 ppm during the winter (due to a seasonal water supply change, I believe). I collect rainwater during the winter and it is usually sufficient since most plants are dormant and don't need a lot of water during that time.
Having a TDS meter will give you some peace of mind that the water you are using is appropriate for your plants. It is not an absolutely essential purchase, but is pretty helpful and I recommend getting one if you can.
Note: If you click on my Amazon links and make a purchase, I receive a small percentage as part of their affiliate program. I only link products that I have purchased myself and that I would recommend to someone starting out with growing carnivorous plants.
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