Expert: Sarracenia Northwest - 4/20/2010

Question
I am getting really confused. I recently asked a question about using salt softened water that has then gone through a reverse osmosis filter, whether that would be ok, and was looking for the answer. (Haven't found it) and came across this quote from a person linked to your site as an answer man. He says at the end that distilled water will kill the plant. I thought that was what we were supposed to use? here is the quote - Answer
Hello Dom!
Anything will work for covering just make sure  it doesn't get direct sunlight and that is all what matters. It can be bags,plastic, And glass covers. I was thinking about leaving the water over night, and I am not sure if it will work. Go tell Dave or Sarracenia Northwest About this. I heard about it but i am not sure. Maybe they know. But what I do know is that distilled water will kill your plants permanently.

Good luck and come see me to see how it is going!
Joan Avila

Answer
Hi Martin,

Ah, yes.  Joan is no longer on AllExperts.  Because of that comment and other erroneous comments, I requested that AllExperts remove her.  Unfortunately, they still kept the questions she answered.   I don't know how she came to that conclusion, but she did profess in being self-taught from books.  Apparently, after reading a few books on carnivorous plants, she felt she was an expert.  As you can read from her response, she mentioned that the grower should contact us because she wasn't "sure if it will work." Obviously, she doesn't have any experience to back up her recommendations.  (Letting water sit overnight will NOT remove minerals.)

Yes, passing water through a water softener prior to passing it through a reverse osmosis unit is perfectly OK.  We use reverse osmosis water on all of our plants, and we have about 10,000 of them at our nursery.

For more information about using water and growing carnivorous plants, watch our DVD series, Grow Carnivorous Plants.

http://www.cobraplant.com/DVD

Good Growing!
Jacob Farin