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View Full Version : Is it a bad idea to water bananas with hose water?


caliboy1994
04-18-2012, 09:08 PM
I think it might be chlorinated. Would this be bad for the plants?

sunfish
04-18-2012, 09:14 PM
I think it might be chlorinated. Would this be bad for the plants?

Yes get a filter system

caliboy1994
04-18-2012, 09:24 PM
I guess I'll just stick with filtered tap water then.

caliboy1994
04-18-2012, 09:26 PM
Would I need a dechlorinator and a water softener or just either one?

sunfish
04-18-2012, 09:34 PM
I guess I'll just stick with filtered tap water then.

I was kidding you. I worked in landscape for 30 years. We planted thousands of plants ,millions of ice plant cuttings ,acres of grass all watered with city water.

caliboy1994
04-18-2012, 09:35 PM
It's hard to be sarcastic on a forum...especially to a newbie like me :ha:

Yug
04-19-2012, 05:05 AM
I use hose water all the time with no probs.

Worm_Farmer
04-19-2012, 07:38 AM
Its not the best, but I have used it for years now with no problems. However you can pick up a Carbon filter pretty cheap at home depot, under 50$

auburnfan28
04-19-2012, 09:54 AM
Ain't nothing like rain though!!

bananimal
04-19-2012, 12:01 PM
I use a hose fed by my 135 ft deep well. City water is just too expensive. How deep would you have to drill to get clear water in your area? Is well digging a common practice, or not?

caliboy1994
04-19-2012, 12:38 PM
I know that there is an aquifer under the San Fernando Valley, but its contaminated with MTBE, this might not be great for the plants. Also I don't know how deep the water is and I'm not willing to drill for it either. I think hose water will be just fine.

jmoore
04-19-2012, 01:00 PM
MTBE?

As for hose water, any chlorine will evaporate after a short period of time and it may even contain beneficial ions like calcium, magnesium, sulphate etc

I use it, but it's not ecologically sound, I should use collected rain water. Ho hum.

Dalmatiansoap
04-19-2012, 01:22 PM
Now, this is a part where Im jumping in asking like: what the difference between hose and tap water? Naah, dont warry, Im not gonna ask..

sunfish
04-19-2012, 01:43 PM
I think it might be chlorinated. Would this be bad for the plants?

I hope it'.s okay for bananas I've been drinking it for years.:0519:

mksmth
04-19-2012, 02:20 PM
Thought I would add to this since its along the same lines. Last summer I collected the condensate from my central heat and air and was getting about 10-15 gallons per day of "free" water. It was more than enough to water my containers and other things.

Mike

caliboy1994
04-19-2012, 03:17 PM
Methyl tert-butyl ether - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTBE)

palmtree
04-19-2012, 07:19 PM
When its hot outside just about any water is good! My bananas get tap water and pool water so its seen more than its fair share of chlorine. It doesnt seem to mind though, they are strong plants and they love rain water and fertilizer which it also got plenty of last year (last august we got so much rain that my pool overflowed 2 times and the runoff from the tropical bed of plants turned the pool water green!)

Nom
04-19-2012, 08:04 PM
what the difference between hose and tap water?

Same stuff, at least it should be. Comes from the same place, doesn't it?

caliboy1994
04-19-2012, 08:27 PM
What about salt water pool water?

sunfish
04-19-2012, 08:30 PM
What about salt water pool water?

I've never drank saltwater :ha::ha:

Nicolas Naranja
04-19-2012, 09:38 PM
I use hose water here at the house. It's not as good as rain, but it will do.

RobG7aChattTN
04-19-2012, 10:17 PM
Just in case I usually fill up several 5 gal. buckets with tap water and let the Chlorine air out for a few hours or overnight when I'm watering anything "special". I worry that the Chlorine might kill beneficial micro organisms in the soil, but I have used it strait out of the hose and not noticed any problems.

Nom
04-19-2012, 11:06 PM
What about salt water pool water?

Pool water was filled with the same thing as your tap or hose water, presumably. I've never owned a house with a pool, but I believe people put more chlorine than there already is into the water to kill bacteria. However, this shouldn't be a problem. Tropical plants like Nepenthes have to have RO/DI water or else they will die. This is not because of the chlorine, this is because of the mineral content that their roots cannot handle. Now, if you dumped straight chlorine onto your bananas, it would probably kill them, but the chlorine content in pool water is too low to harm most plants, especially hardy ones like bananas.

Saltwater is a bit more risky. It depends how high the salt content is. I poured saltwater from my aquariums I used to have onto a plum tree in a small planter box to keep it watered every time I did water changes. The salt just kept accumulating and accumulating over time and eventually killed the tree. Now, everything in there dies. The side of the plant box that didn't get as much saltwater on it has some weeds growing in it, but nothing else. So I highly recommend not to water any plants with saltwater. It will kill them in my experience.

GoAngels
04-20-2012, 12:43 AM
In all seriousness, there is an issue with lead from garden hoses contaminating water which then contaminates garden soil. I've switched all my hoses to lead free versions (costco carries one).

jmoore
04-20-2012, 01:21 AM
There's lead in hoses now!

caliboy1994
04-20-2012, 01:26 AM
I also have a faucet that i can just use to water it from.

H2O
04-20-2012, 04:38 AM
What about salt water pool water?
Hi,
here is a french doc i found, i don't know if still accurate/good information but here it is (translated):
"...The banana plant can tolerate irrigation water quality of up to 350 mg of chloride per liter and up to 1.5 g of total salts per liter of high salinity levels have the effect of the delay flowering and yield reduction. The banana is very sensitive to water deficit...."

Original doc (http://www.vulgarisation.net/bul109.htm)

bananimal
04-20-2012, 07:27 AM
What about salt water pool water?

Good way to kill your plants -- fast.

2woodensticks
10-29-2012, 09:39 AM
where i live they just started the reclaimed water program...so far no problem with my bananas or any of my other plants..to be used just for irragation but i see people washing there cars with it all the time..