A/C water

[Starfox]

Does anyone or has anyone used Air Conditioning water on their bonsai and what if anything was the outcome?

I have read plenty that say it's fine while others are concerned about bacteria, salt build up, fungi etc....
Maybe it is fine to use on garden plants but not bonsai?

I was thinking it could be a better source of water during the summer because as it is our tap water is very hard and chlorinated so I run it all through a jug filter first but now I have more plants and they need more water as the temps rise and frankly we are burning through the filters too fast for this to remain viable.
Rain water is not really a solution, at least not at the moment anyway so I was thinking if I collect the water in some semi-transparent containers and let it sit in the sun a few days before using the UV would probably kill off any nasties left in the water.

Does this sound viable or a bad idea?

 

[sorce]

It is merely condensate.

As long as the AC doesn't have any chemical cleaner remaining in the path of the drain it should be fine.

With a possible copper bonus.

Sorce

 

[Starfox]

That is what I was thinking until I read some of the against reasons.
It would certainly make life easier anyway.

 

[Paradox]

How much water can you collect from an A/C and how many trees are you watering? Seems to be a whole lot of work to be worth it. I would need the condensate from a bunch of industrial sized A/C units to water my 50+ trees every day in the summer.

I use chlorinated tap water on my trees. I font know the hardness, never tested it, but the pH is about 7.6. It hasn't been a problem on 5 years.

 

[Dav4]

A friend of mine has the condensate line from one of her a/c units attached to a small hose that runs to a 2 gal watering can. It fills up every day and she uses it to water her potted tomatoes.

 

[rockm]

This is basically the same thing as dehumidifier water. Researchers say not to use it on plants you intend to eat, since there's a slight risk of disease transmission in the water. I would think it would be fine for bonsai (unless you're going to eat your tree ;-)), however, unless there is a pressing need, like a drought, I'd just use tap water.
https://alumni.stanford.edu/get/page/magazine/article/?article_id=29151

 

[Starfox]

I think if I had 50+ trees I would be coming up with another idea, thankfully I don't need that much yet and only have 5 or 6 trees but that is likely to slightly increase.
Last year I was filling up a 5 or 6 litre bucket daily from the A/C which would probably be surplus to my needs now so in a 20 litre tub with a tap it should gather quick enough and at least it wouldn't be wasted.

I have always suspected that my tap water killed my Serissa and starting to suspect it for some garden plants and why some of my seeds are having trouble germinating too, no solid evidence but I need to get some kind of comprehensive testing kit to find out for sure before we put a proper softening and filter unit in at the source.

I use tap water to mist them though but that leaves a white deposit on the leaves.

Don't think I'll be eating any of them but then maybe it wouldn't be such an idea to use it on my tomatoes either but from the sounds of it A/C water would be OK for the summer then.

 

[Paradox]

A friend of mine has the condensate line from one of her a/c units attached to a small hose that runs to a 2 gal watering can. It fills up every day and she uses it to water her potted tomatoes.

2 gallons from a regular window unit or a larger ground unit?
Wow if its a window unit, I underestimated how much water they can produce in a day. Didn't think it was that much. I'd still need a bunch of them to get enough water though.

 

[Dav4]

It's a 2-3 ton central ac...

 

[Paradox]

It's a 2-3 ton central ac...

Ah, ok I'm not that far off in my estimates then...lol

Thanks

 

[GrimLore]

Does this sound viable or a bad idea?

If you can drink it so can your plants, no BS...

Grimmy

 

[sorce]

Everclear?

Sorce

 

[armetisius]

Everclear? Sorce

That too but they can't hold their licqeur,
They will bust you out to your spouse,
and they never recover from their hangover.

DISCLAIMER: On the off chance that some one
does NOT know; that was a joke. NEVER administer
alcohol to your plants.

 

[Starfox]

If you can drink it so can your plants, no BS...

Grimmy

Funny you say that, last night this is what came out of the tap...


Even when it runs clear I wouldn't drink it without filtration first but now I'm not touching it at all again.

 

[Saizan]

Tap water from this region has very low quality: tons of carbonates that accumulate in the substrate and pots. It's a very hard water, and in summer is even worst, so water your little tress once or twice each day with this water is not a really good idea (I had some dead trees by this reason)

My last investment in bonsai stuff was a reverse osmosis device to use both as domestic water, and to water the little trees. I'm bit tired of get upstairs packs and packs of mineral water to drink!

 

[Starfox]

I'm glad I'm not just imagining it and I do suspect it is damaging to the trees, not just bonsai either.

We are off to Aki in a minute and the way the water is today and last night we will definitely pick up a small RO filter. That might be the best investment in the short term.

 

[sorce]

You also can't water your trees With Water from Flint, Mi.

Sorce

 

[sorce]

And for the record......

Trump was talking about getting $75 million or something for running for office.

Sucks because, they could totally replace the entire water delivery system in Flint with that kind of $.

So anyone who thinks AnY of these fucks give a corn shit about the people.....

You Are Wrong.

Sad.

Sorce

 

[Starfox]

Agree with that, same world over too.

I had read about Flint months ago, surprised that hasn't been fixed by now.

So we brought a filter that came with instructions that basically said "get a plumber to do it".
Probably good advice as I aint no plumber.

Also got a little digital tester for reading the ppm and although the water is clearer now it read 998ppm at the highest and has dropeed to 950 now.
Problem being I have no idea what that is made up of but will order a more comprehensive test kit of some kind, they say 1000ppm is not safe to drink and not knowing what actually caused it it's not going near my bonsai without filtering first.

So all in all I figure A/C water will be used this summer, wish it would warm up a bit though.