Water
Intro
Water is more than just something plants drink. Its quality and chemistry can affect nutrient availability, root health and how the growing environment behaves.
Understanding your water helps you make better decisions about what you give your plants and how they respond to it.
Water quality
Water quality describes what is dissolved in the water your plants receive. Minerals, salts and other compounds can influence how water behaves in the substrate and how easily plants can access nutrients.
Tap, rain, filtered and RO water can have very different properties, so knowing your starting water can help you decide how to fertilize and manage your plants.
pH & nutrient avaiability
pH affects how easily plants can access nutrients from water and the growing medium. When the pH moves too far from a suitable range, some nutrients become less available even when they are present.
For many aroids, a slightly acidic root zone around pH 5.5–6.5 generally provides good nutrient availability. The actual range can vary with the plant, substrate and growing system.
Hardness & alkalinity
Water hardness mainly describes the amount of calcium and magnesium in the water, while alkalinity describes its ability to resist changes in pH, mainly because of bicarbonates and carbonates.
Hard water is not automatically bad for plants, but high alkalinity can gradually push the root-zone pH upward and make nutrient management more difficult.
Water stress
Water stress happens when a plant cannot maintain the right balance of water in its tissues. Too little available water can cause wilting, curling and crispy edges, while excessive water around the roots can reduce oxygen and lead to root damage.
Water stress is not only about how much you water — substrate, roots, humidity, temperature and water quality all play a role.