Garden

[depglass]

Every year we start seedlings in those little flat peat discs.  Something occurred to me this year, this house has a Culligan water softener, it works by reverse osmosis with a large drum of salt  Are we affecting the growth of these seedlings?  Gardenman?  Are you around?

[Desertdi]

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@depglass wrote:

Every year we start seedlings in those little flat peat discs.  Something occurred to me this year, this house has a Culligan water softener, it works by reverse osmosis with a large drum of salt  Are we affecting the growth of these seedlings?  Gardenman?  Are you around?

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FWD:   @gardenman 

[granddi]

Ours was attached to the hot water only. So water from the cold water tap was not treated.

[Foxxee]

I had a Culligan, now Kinetico.  Have been using over 20 years.  Soft water hasn't hurt my plants, but I feed them twice a month because they remove minerals.  

[ScrapHappy]

We had Culligan water softner for 16 years.  Had the nicest yard, plants/flowers on the street.....yes, even our neighbors told us so.  

[Still Raining]

Do you have a bypass for your drinking water?  Can you use that source?  Less salt.

[gardenman]

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@depglass wrote:

Every year we start seedlings in those little flat peat discs.  Something occurred to me this year, this house has a Culligan water softener, it works by reverse osmosis with a large drum of salt  Are we affecting the growth of these seedlings?  Gardenman?  Are you around?

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If you only use softened water for your plants over the long term (months, years, decades, centuries), it can be harmful. Sodium will build up and can cause issues. For seedlings that will be going into the garden in a month or two, it's less of an issue. It takes time for the sodium to build up. "Experts" say the sodium can fool a plant into thinking it's taken in more water than it has and the plant can theoretically dehydrate itself. Eh, maybe. Maybe not. Personally, I'd be more worried about the lack of minerals in RO water. Once again though, not as likely to be a problem in seedlings who will only be in the water for a few weeks/months. 

The peat discs (Jiffy 7's or the like) typically have some fertilizer mixed in with the compressed peat that should help offset any missing minerals/nutrients in the short term. I wouldn't worry about it too much.  

If you're growing insectivorous plants (and you're probably not) you have to be more careful. They really prefer rainwater or distilled water and get their nutrients from the bugs they trap. Just "normal" tap water can cause issues for them.

Assuming you're starting "normal" plants from seed you shouldn't have any issues. Light is the biggest issue most seed starters have to deal with. If you get that right the plants don't really care about the rest too much. I'm of the belief that chlorinated water could be an issue in garden plants if used extensively. There's a whole lot of life in those first few inches of garden soil including bacteria and other microorganisms. The very same bacteria and microorganisms that chlorine is designed to kill. 

I have well water that has high amounts of ammonia which while not great for humans is good for plants. The ammonia helps to feed the plants each time I water them just from the ammonia in the water. I mostly use rainwater for my garden plants though to preserve my well. Replacing a well gets kind of complicated and expensive.

I wouldn't be overly worried about using softened water for seedlings. You should be fine.

[depglass]

Thank you gardenman and others.  DH will be happy to hear your opinion.  No, the whole house is on the system as we have a lot of iron in the water.  This is a former iron mining area. No need to preserve the well, we are on a small lake and the water table is high.  

[tototwo]

We have a water softener (not Culligan brand) and we were told by the plumbers when they installed it to turn it off when using our sprinklers or watering plants outside.   Our unit has an on-and-off switch, so I do turn the softener off to run the sprinklers.  It's kind of a pain in the neck to do it.  We were told salt would build up in our soil over time and kill grass and perennials.  

For watering inside plants (I've never done seedlings), I buy bottled water.  

[gardenman]

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@tototwo wrote:

We have a water softener (not Culligan brand) and we were told by the plumbers when they installed it to turn it off when using our sprinklers or watering plants outside.   Our unit has an on-and-off switch, so I do turn the softener off to run the sprinklers.  It's kind of a pain in the neck to do it.  We were told salt would build up in our soil over time and kill grass and perennials.  

For watering inside plants (I've never done seedlings), I buy bottled water.  

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Yeah, it's the "over time" that's the issue. For seedlings that are only inside for a few weeks until hitting the garden, it's less of an issue. There's not really enough time for the sodium to build up to a dangerous level. And whatever buildup there is will get washed away the first time it rains once they're in the garden.