Unless your tap water has a TDS of below 50 you're slowly going to kill the plant. And do not let it sit in a water tray.

plant seems to be flourishing. i'm going to keep doing what i am doing, but i appreciate your input! the purpose of the discussion was to show how my plant is doing, not to receive a lecture. this is kind of a test for my other neps.

Tap water? It may work with some of the tougher crosses but I wouldn't chance it on my expensive plants... just my 2 cents.

I read that nepenthes will not tolerate except plain water and no fertilizer. My nepenthes has not grown a whole lot since last summer. My husband dumped shake n feed in its pot, and now its pitchers are growing bigger and looks nicer overall.

i honestly was about to give up on it and give it to a carnivore plant connoisseur to be rescued, but not anymore. So, yeah good to hear that these plants are hardier and much like any other houseplant than I thought.

Problem with tap water is the buildup of Mineral Salts which over time will weaken your plants.. you are shooting for a TDS count of 160 p.p.m. I picked up a cheap t.d.s meter at local garden Center.

The TDS and salts is one of the major concerns behind watering *any* CP. If someone's tap water is better than another person's tap water, it still doesn't mean everyone can use tap water.

However, everyone *can* use distilled water, rain water, RO water, etc. without regard to getting TDS meters, monitoring how often to drain, plant species and variety, etc.

That's why those 3 sources of water are often the go-to source for watering CPs, without getting into additional detail of all the various care and maintenance one can do for these plants.

Additionally, being that the OP is using some kind of Brita filter, that may also help the water. We know that people have success from using the Zero Water filter systems with their tap water. Even as Josh Streppa said, 160 ppm is still OK for his plants, although the typical suggestion is 50 ppm (again, meaning that with any CP, you can safely use this water without needing to deal with species, variety, etc)

With new or rare plants, I'd certainly err on the side of caution. However, beyond that, with experimentation in mind on common or surplus inventory of plants, it's fine to use other sources of water. I think it should just be clarified, upon writing the OP, that it's an experiment.

I use a Brita filter for my drinking water but it doesn't lower TDS all that much. Stick with Zero water filters.

Thanks everybody for the input! I didn't mention it was an experiment in my OP because frankly i don't really consider it one. this is my first (now of 3) carnivorous plants and i am using what i already have to grow it. if it won't grow, and if i kill it, that's fine--then i'll know my tap water is too hard for these plants. until then, i am still going to keep doing what i'm doing.

I use tap water. One of mine is two years old. They are all fine.

It's alive for now... not trying to stir up trouble but I would never use tapwater on my CP's. It takes a toll over time just check out any of the CarnIvorous Plant forums. They will back my claim.

If your tap water TDS is below 50ppm you'll be fine. Any higher isn't good though.

Just curious bout where you heard that?

CP's grow in very low mineral laden soil.. & tapwater just constantly adds these minerals to the soil. No good

All CP forums warn against high TDS.

Yeah I'm a member on every CP board there is good information to bone had

OK, TDS = bad...but what about pH? Some folks have decidedly 'softer' water than others. My neps have been doing great for five or so years, fed only rainwater. But even that is decidedly acid, coming in at about 6.0. Our tap water around here (from surface impoundments, not acquifers) is about 6.5.