# Rain water vs well water



## Blair (Sep 3, 2007)

I have heard that the reason our plants do better with rain water is due to the fact that rain water is ionized whereas well water is not. I do notice that when I water, the plants just seem to stay alive but when we get a good soaking rain, they really jump.

Any economical way I can make my well water ionized?


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

I've never heard that. Have you considered that perhaps when you water you're not watering as thoroughly as a good soaking rain? 

I used to just use a sprinkler on my plants and it caused all sorts of problems. Some plants got too much and some didn't get enough and then there was the everpresent problem of disease from too much humidity in the foliage. Learning better methods for watering helped me immensely.


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## Blair (Sep 3, 2007)

I am watering by hand. Putting water directly at base of plant. About a quart for knee - thigh high tomato and pepper plants. Also using manure tea the same way.


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## frankva (May 21, 2009)

1/2" of water at the base of a plant vs 1/2" over a large area. Think giant plant pot.

My well water is quite acidic. It also comes out of the hose at 45*F. I filled a string of 5 gal buckets last night and did a bunch of tomatoes this morning. 2 plastic coffee cans each. Will do another set tomorrow.

Works on my scale.


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

Primary reason that rain water is better is that it is acidic. In parts of the country where soil is alkaline, it's called poor man's fertilizer. If the soil is too alkaline, plants are unable to take up nutrients. Rainwater becomes a temporarily acidic buffer which allows the plants to feed. Well water is generally hard water from the calcium and other alkaline minerals which are naturally in them. 

There also is a certain amount of nitrogen in falling rain during thunderstorms. That's where the ionizing takes place. Doesn't last long before it is absorbed back into the atmosphere and won't be found in your rain barrel. 

Martin


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## wyld thang (Nov 16, 2005)

Paquebot said:


> Primary reason that rain water is better is that it is acidic. In parts of the country where soil is alkaline, it's called poor man's fertilizer. If the soil is too alkaline, plants are unable to take up nutrients. Rainwater becomes a temporarily acidic buffer which allows the plants to feed. Well water is generally hard water from the calcium and other alkaline minerals which are naturally in them.
> 
> There also is a certain amount of nitrogen in falling rain during thunderstorms. That's where the ionizing takes place. Doesn't last long before it is absorbed back into the atmosphere and won't be found in your rain barrel.
> 
> Martin


Anybody wanna buy some bottled water from my well then?(really, cool info Pacquebot) It's very acidic(luckily just replaced some galvanized fittings on the house which were ready to pop right off) and full of iron 

Blair, how often do you water? I'm putting at least a gallon per plant(handwatering at the roots, and they are closer spaced). I check the moisture feel of the soil to know when to water, and I never let it get dry more than even 1/2" down. It may sound like a lot of watering, but with the mulch and mutilayered combined planting I'm just watering about once a week, or once every 1.5 weeks. And there is no rain to depend on in summer where I am.


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## Blair (Sep 3, 2007)

That makes things a lot clearer and easier to understand. Thanks everyone.


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## Windy in Kansas (Jun 16, 2002)

Do some checking but I think boiling ionizes water. I had a pamphlet years ago that told about using ionized water for plants. Seems the water could be boiled and stored in a jar until needed as long as the jar was full and sealed promptly upon filling it. I tend to remember that the information came from Rodale.

The same pamphlet also told that a very small amount of alfalfa would greatly benefit plants, but more than a teaspoonful (as I remember it) would actually be detrimental and was worse than if none was used.


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## katydidagain (Jun 11, 2004)

I'm a firm believer (without any facts to back me up) that plants anticipate rain--feel it coming--get ready for relief--thus use every drop completely. Artificial watering that we do happens when they're not prepared thus is less effective.


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

katydidagain said:


> I'm a firm believer (without any facts to back me up) that plants anticipate rain--feel it coming--get ready for relief--thus use every drop completely. Artificial watering that we do happens when they're not prepared thus is less effective.


I've got some records that might provide facts to back up your theory.

I keep accurate data on when I water my plants or when it rains. Specifically these are banana pepper plants in a raised bed.

From the notes I've taken this year I can see that the plants start wilting usually the day before a big rain, even if it's been only a day or two since the previous rain. If we have a long stretch of no rain (which has only happened a few times this year) then the plants make it for much longer before they begin to wilt. 

There's a lot of supposition in those notes since I don't know the amount of water in the soil prior to the plants wilting, nor have I been accurately measuring the amount of rainfall or watering, but it's something that I cannot immediately disprove your hypothesis.

I do believe that a person with a scientific mind could set up a controlled experiment in which to test your theory.


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