RO water safe for plants, just lacking salts
Question: Regarding using house water for plants: Is it safe to use reverse osmosis water as compared to tap water?
It is safe to use RO water on houseplants, but it is a good idea to add a small amount of fertilizer salts (1 teaspoon per gallon of RO water) just so there are some salts in the water.
Because RO water is so pure and free of salts, it can be a bit of a problem with soils unless you replace some of the salts that have been taken out.
A small amount of fertilizer salts will do the trick. By the way, I am not pushing Miracle-Gro, so most reputable houseplant fertilizers will be just fine.
Miracle-Gro is code for a good-quality, specialty fertilizer.
Bob Morris is a professor emeritus in horticulture with the University of Nevada and can be reached at extremehort@aol.com. Visit his blog at xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com.