Can iron in my water become a problem for my trees?

that-guy

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As I'm still in high school I live with my parents and I will through college as well, because it's a lot cheaper and college is expensive. Anyway sometime soon I'm going to move in with my mom since she got a new house a couple of months ago. I go there on the weekends and the water tastes awful. We had it tested (its pump water) and they said it was safe but had a lot of iron in it. Could this harm my trees when I have them over there?
 

jk_lewis

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No. Trees have no taste buds. <g>
 

Eric Group

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As I'm still in high school I live with my parents and I will through college as well, because it's a lot cheaper and college is expensive. Anyway sometime soon I'm going to move in with my mom since she got a new house a couple of months ago. I go there on the weekends and the water tastes awful. We had it tested (its pump water) and they said it was safe but had a lot of iron in it. Could this harm my trees when I have them over there?

It probably won't hurt your trees, but hard water like that can stain the pots and cause white build ups on leaves sometimes too...

Just watch the soil salinity and acidity levels- some trees are more sensitive than others. Unless there is an insane amount (which would certainly be bad for you too) it probably won't affect most of your trees a whole lot...

Set up a rain catchment system for plant water if you are concerned.
 

edprocoat

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The iron water actually leaves rust stains on your pots. It won't hurt your trees at all. you probably won't notice it on your pots unless they are light colored then it will be pretty noticeable.

ed
 

Poink88

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Most trees actually need iron else they can develop chlorosis. However, as with everything, too much can cause problems. Note that different plants need different amounts of iron. Soil ph also influence how much of that iron will be converted to useable form.
 

lordy

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try a rain barrel. Easy and not very expensive, especially if you are resourceful. Even if the iron isnt a problem, it saves stress on the well/water table/pump.
 

that-guy

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Yeah I was probably going to do a rain barrel of some sort anyway and just use the pump water if the rain water runs out or until I get a barrel or large bucket of some kind. I have a guy who stops buy over there now and then that sales 55-gallon drums and 2 other sizes and he may give me some kind of deal or trade :) and I doubt it would go completely empty all to often as we have a pretty high amount of rain fall.
 
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How close is the house to the Gulf? Rainwater along the coast can contain salt that it picks up as it falls through the atmosphere. I'd save some and taste it to see if you can detect any salt in it. There are also inexpensive test kits for salt that aquarium people use.

And the amount of salt can vary depending on the time of year and the wind direction.
 

Smoke

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How close is the house to the Gulf? Rainwater along the coast can contain salt that it picks up as it falls through the atmosphere. I'd save some and taste it to see if you can detect any salt in it. There are also inexpensive test kits for salt that aquarium people use.

And the amount of salt can vary depending on the time of year and the wind direction.

For years Emeril Lagasse has been telling us.." I don't know where you get your water, but where I get mine, it don't come seasoned". You telling me all this time that hack has been lying? BAM!
 

GrimLore

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WoW! Welcome to B Nutso :) I to say first off if your outdoor plants that get watered do not mind neither will your plant(that applies to them being rained on as well). If you do not want "staining" to occur us a SIMPLE filter on the water source. I have never heard of a plant overdosing on rust although it can look rather messy...

Grimmy
 

esons

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How about other possible toxins? I've been told that my well has likely been contaminated from a fire on the ridge above my house. A rain barrel won't work for me as it seems like it'll never rain again here.
 

GrimLore

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How about other possible toxins? I've been told that my well has likely been contaminated from a fire on the ridge above my house. A rain barrel won't work for me as it seems like it'll never rain again here.

You would need more a more detailed description of "toxins" and actually know if they still exist or have washed through the substrate over time. I am guessing there is no toxins but a lot of debris. This place has inline hose filters that do not fall apart like the Home Depot variety and are affordable http://www.purewaterproducts.com/garden-hose-filters I suspect if anything you might just feel better using them.

Grimmy
 
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