Hey guys / gals, was reading an article about using rain water at all cost. I was wondering how much this plays a role in tree health. It said when using tap water to alow a few days of sitting in the can for chlorine and other additives to dissipate before applying to my trees. I don't have a rain storage system in place yet, but if tap water is definitely not what I should be using I will implement one asap. I have not noticed any I'll effects to my knowledge but I definitely want the best for all of my babies!! Thanks for any advise / information!

Don't worry about it too much.

Letting tap water sit for a few days really makes no difference.
Iwater with water from a borehole. Works fine. ONly this summer, with 4 months no rain, did I get to see the first effects of salt buildup (Which was when all foliage already had a nice coat of scale n them)

Chlorine dissipates in minutes. This year as most years the rainwater I had ran out in May and I had very little more until August. Apart from that I have a lot of trees and watering with the can takes a while. There is nothing wrong with the water quality with mains water, after all you drink it. I keep water off the leaves because of the sun.

m5eaygeoff wrote:

I keep water off the leaves because of the sun.

Why?

Madartej21 wrote:

Why?

With the exception of some ferns, water droplets acting as lens and burning leaves in the sun is a myth.
I live in a country where in the summer it rains every day for one or two hours and immediately after the rain the scorching sun reappears. No wet leaves are burned by the sun, on the contrary, they like it.

I have always wondered about that being a myth, we get alot of afternoon tropical weather and I have always been nervous about that. Yet nothing burr yet for me either. Thanks everyone for the advise. I can't remember where I came across the article but they made a big fuss about using tap water. I'm going to try and set up some rain barrels for next spring, but I don't feel any big rush to do so now. Thanks again!

Clicio wrote:

Madartej21 wrote:

Why?

With the exception of some ferns, water droplets acting as lens and burning leaves in the sun is a myth.
I live in a country where in the summer it rains every day for one or two hours and immediately after the rain the scorching sun reappears. No wet leaves are burned by the sun, on the contrary, they like it.

I agree.. same weather conditions here almost year round... it rains very frequently with strong sunshine that follows...

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Keeping the water off the leaves keeps them mainly free of the chalky deposits.It also means that the water is getting where it is needed, to the roots.

m5eaygeoff wrote:

Keeping the water off the leaves keeps them mainly free of the chalky deposits.

I see.
Unless you use rain water, of course.
But in Japan, at the nurseries in Saitama, they water the bonsai as a whole, foliage and soil, by above (manual watering, as I have seen there).