FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Rinse the peat and sand well in rainwater or distilled water.

jetfire245 wrote:

gatoruss wrote: ↑Sun Jul 31, 2022 1:37 am The label indicates that the water is purified thru reverse osmosis. It is all I could find at the closest local store, but I will look elsewhere tomorrow.

Like MikeB just said. As long as it doesn't mention minerals you'll be square . In the long run distilled water or a zero water unit will be cheaper/easier.

Yes, distilled water is good...I've found it at Walmart for $1 a gallon. The zero water unit will be cheaper if your tap water has low-TDS...otherwise the filters can be expensive to replace as they will clog up quickly with high-TDS water.

But for your plants, a couple of gallons of good, low-TDS water will last a long time...so buying distilled water would be about as simple as anything.

The absolute cheapest water is....rainwater...if you have the ability to collect it. You might want to go ahead and buy a TDS meter. They are handy for the times you are curious about your water. Some people's tapwater is ok to use, but without some way of testing you don't know. (Most people's tapwater isn't good, though.). But, you can use the TDS meter to test collected rainwater (usually *very low* TDS), store bought water, water from a dehumidifier (many people use dehumidifier water), etc.,. They run around $15 on Amazon...a nice little tool. Rainwater comes in really handy when you start rinsing peat, sand, and perlite...as you can use a good bit. Don't be fooled into not washing the perlite...it might look all white and clean but once you put it in water you'll see how it turns the water cloudy and milky looking! Washing perlite is a pain as it wants to cling to everything and dodges you when you try to collect it out of the bucket... a strainer can help. For washing the peat I like to put mine in a strainer bag that fits in a 5-gallon bucket of paint...Lowes, HD, Amazon has them...but you can rinse peat without them, especially if it's a small amount of peat. Rinse the peat several times, letting it soak between rinses.

Whatever you do....HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!!

jetfire245 wrote: ↑Sun Jul 31, 2022 5:07 am Idk why people always think the zero water filters are that expensive.

You can get a 4 pack from bed bath and beyond for like $50 effectively making them $12.5 each. While not the cheapest method, it is significantly cheaper (and sometimes more convenient based off water need) across the board (high tds water or not) to process your water this way rather than purchasing water at the store.

I've got no argument that they are good and handy filters. If you're ok with spending the extra money on the filters and have a low-volume use they would be fine. Rainwater is far better, in my situation...and free....except for the the $20 32-gallon garbage can that will last many years and the $6 pack of mosquito dunks that will probably last me two years. We've all got our comfort zones, I suppose.

@Lain, where are you located. I'm curious about your 800 TDS water! I thought my 325 was bad!!!