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| Three buckets and a shovel |
So, as an alternative I melt snow during the winter - which is just as good as using rain water.
When I first heard that people melted snow to water houseplants, I thought it was a brilliant idea!
The first time I tried it, I was shocked by how little water was left after the snow melted.
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| Pack the bucket of snow |
Ok, melting snow is more work than simply using tap water.
But, it's really not that much more work - and it's SO much better for the plants!
If you know this from the start, you won't feel so discouraged when you try it for yourself.
It only took me about five minutes to pack three five gallon buckets with snow.
As I filled the buckets, I packed the snow tight with my foot so the buckets were as full as possible.
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| Water yield after snow has melted |
It took almost two days for this amount of snow to melt completely.
After the snow was melted, it took me another five minutes or so to transfer the water into my water jugs.
As I pour it into the jugs, I run the water through a strainer to remove debris.
In the end, these three five gallon buckets of snow yielded almost six gallons of water, not too bad.
Update March 2, 2012: The snow that fell during a recent snow storm was much slushier than the snow I collected when I wrote this post. This time, these same three buckets yielded eleven and a half gallons of water.
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| Straining the water |
After I water my houseplants, I collect more snow to fill the jugs again.
That way, I always have water on hand when I need it.
One thing to note; be sure to allow the water to warm to room temperature before using it.
Icy water can be harmful to houseplants.
All in all, it only took about 15 minutes of my time to collect awesome water for my houseplants.
Although, this is another one of those things I do where I'm pretty sure my neighbors are rolling their eyes and laughing at me. But it's worth it; I have extremely healthy houseplants!
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Okay Amy, this is one of those "why didn't I think of that!" moments! Lord knows I have enough cat litter bins around my place too! I'm so good about giving my plants rainwater all summer but then winter comes and the houseplants get our tap water which is quite high in iron and who knows what else. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteLOL Julie! I used to always use tap water during the winter too. I can tell a difference in the health of my plants now that I use melted snow. Glad I could give you a new idea. :-)
DeleteAmy
Hmmm, I wish it yielded more water. But, still, a good idea!
ReplyDeleteI agree. But once I knew how much water to expect, it wasn't so bad. I only use about 10 gallons each time I water my plants... and in the winter, I don't water very often.
DeleteAmy