I use distilled water. Too many potential problems with other water sources. Some plants are sensitive to chlorine, others to fluoride both of which are often in city water. All water sources (other than distilled) will have some mineral content in them and I prefer to know what mineral/nutrients my plants are getting.

The downside to using distilled water is it costs money and it has to be stored somewhere.

Other than that it's the only way to go as far as I am concerned if you want to be certain there is nothing in the water causing problems.

It may not be the salt, it might be chlorine. Letting the water sit out overnight most of the chlorine should evaporate.
I use bottled water for my plants that are sensitive to chlorine. The rest take the tap water just fine.

I should have added that I'm in the country on a well. Up til recently the outside water was also going thru the softener becuz some Bozo at Culligan decided to ignore me when I said I did NOT want the outside water going thru the softener. It was only when they had to replace the unit (rented) again that they changed it off the outside and admitted the mistake they made 14 years ago.

My outside water is high in lime and calcium (which is why we need the softener) but no chloride or other chemicals.

Jackie

The only way you are going to know definitively if there is something in the water is by repoting everything (or starting with new plants) and giving them either distilled water or rain water.

Rain water will contain minerals, but nothing harmful and can be considered a mild fertilizer water, particularly when used before the nitrogen has a chance to gas out.

If you reuse containers scrubs them completely first so there are no visible sediment deposits on them. A vinegar water soak before scrubbing greatly assists.

I really don't know if it your water that is the problem or not, but switching to a known good source of water after a repot or with new plants/pots will tell you.

My husband rigged a 'take-off' (separate little spigot directly off the water pipe as it entered the house but before it got to the water softener) for me to use for my plants, but you could get a plumber to do the same thing. There really is no way around it - water soft's are plant killers (of course Culligan will tell you different!) and without an expensive RO system, you're not going to have much luck otherwise.

I water my plants with spring water and I rarely have even brown tips. So the plants seem to like it. I buy it by the gallon at Walmart for about 60 cents.

If you use that, you must definitely fertilize often, if not full strength, because everything good is taken out of bottled water along with what you don't want.

Thanks Lucy.

I never considered that. The problem is that I've read so much about the dangers of overfertilizing that I'm afraid to use it often. When I do use it, I only use about a quarter to half strength.

I don't like the idea of using tap water because we have so much fluoride and chlorine in the water in Detroit. I used to try sitting it out for a few days to let the chemicals dissipate, but after 2 or 3 days, I could actually still smell the chlorine in the water.

Maybe I'll just follow my husband's example. He says the water has too many chemicals, so he just drinks beer. Perhaps I'll drink beer instead of water and put the plants on the same regimine. j/k ;-)

I use Britta water. Anyone else use that? For those that don't know, it's just a pitcher with a water filter built in. I just fill it up with tap water and wait until the water goes through the filter. That seems like a cheap and hassle-free way. I just have to remember to change the filter regularly.

Amanda,
If you're worried about overfertilizing, have you thought about trying a relatively weak fertilizer so that you can use it every time you water? I'm talking about either Eleanor's VF-11, or the beer fertilizer (and from the above post I take it you have plenty of beer in the house!).

Gabi

Oh there are just gallons and gallons...

Budweiser is steady flowing around these parts. :-)

Thanks Gabi. I will look up Eleanor's. I had never heard of it. When you say beer fertilizer, are you referring to the one mentioned on the c & s forum recently? The one with the beer, ammonia and epsom salt? I've been reading good things about it.

You were also happy with the results when you used it, weren't you?

Yes Amanda, I'm referring to that beer recipe. I like it, but I mostly use it on my hoyas and a few succulents (all my office plants). I use Eleanor's VF-11 on all my hoyas, succulents, and houseplants at my home. I love it. There are many people who swear by it, but it's mostly talked about on the hoya forum. On the bottle it says it is good for ALL plants. You can just google it and you'll find the link so you can read about it. But the beer one is very easy to make. I don't have any real results as to which works better, but they both work great and I love the fact that you can use them both with every watering. You apparently have enough Budweiser to share with your plants...I'm sure they'll be very happy :)

What is the beer recipe?

This is the one I use (given to me by FredGrow):
1/2 half cup non-sudsing household ammonia
12 ounces beer (NOT LIGHT BEER)
1 cup epsom salts
2 cups water (use hot water so that salts can dilute)
Mix and store indefinitely in a covered plastic or glass bottle. Dilute 1 tablespoon to one gallon of water and use to water plants.

There's another recipe I've seen that also uses Molasses. I forget where that was posted but I'm sure if you do a search you'll find it.

You'll want to be careful about using a moisture meter and distilled water. Those meters actually detect salts not water. Stick the meter into distilled water and it will be dry.
I learned that from Tapla.