this post was submitted on 12 Dec 2025
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Houseplants

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Cross post from !hydroponics@slrpnk.net

top 14 comments
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[–] Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz 39 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Do not drink the legionaires water.

[–] gid@piefed.blahaj.zone 12 points 2 days ago

Danger drink

[–] whyNotSquirrel@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 days ago (2 children)

it's when you breathe particules of it the problem, but still, there's no point to drink this... water is the main source of minerals intake, so why would you drink this. And for the plants isn't it the same?

[–] WhiteOakBayou@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

He has a hydroponic set up. The way that typically works is to start with distilled water and add nutes to that. If the pH is off you can have all the nutrients in there you want but the plant can't take them in. By adjusting pH and measuring dissolved particles the grower can target certain nutrients for uptake at specific parts of the growing process and measure their uptake. Of course he could do all of this with tap water but it's way easier to start with a blank slate and that is how most of the guides are written.

[–] sam@piefed.ca 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Water is not the main source of mineral intake. You can drink distilled water with no problems.

Not sure why I keep seeing this online or where people learn this misinformation.

[–] despoticruin@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It's a misunderstanding of osmosis. It's safe to drink distilled in small amounts, but if you are drinking it to hydrate you can quickly run into the issue where it pulls the salts out of your cells and really mess with muscle and organ function. It takes a fair bit to cause issues, a glass here and there is fine, but you can't drink lots of it the same reason we use saline for IV drips instead of distilled water.

[–] sam@piefed.ca 1 points 1 day ago

If drinking distilled water causes issues, your diet is deficient. My parents drink distilled water and have for 30+ years with no negative consequences.

[–] WhiteOakBayou@lemmy.world 28 points 2 days ago

Wash your hands after handling that dirty water and more importantly try not to inhale it. No smoking if you're spritzing the plants. Inhaling appliance condensate is a fast track to legionnaire's disease.

[–] nikt@lemmy.ca 19 points 2 days ago

With a lifetime supply of microplastic particles!

[–] painteddoggie@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Alright so I shouldn't harvest this and put it in my humidifier then? That would get the legion after me?

I appreciate this joke.

[–] bonenode@piefed.social 10 points 2 days ago

Doesn't it have some amounts of detergent in it still? Maybe not much but can be enough to kill your plants.

[–] glimse@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago

Not risking that lol

[–] stray@pawb.social 1 points 1 day ago

So you're saying it's safe to irrigate my sinuses with the water from my dryer tank.