Phrag leaf tips turning brown

[slipperfreak]

Originally Posted by Melody

I'm still very new to orchid growing, but I've heard that you are not suppose to used distilled water because you are robbing the plant from nutrients and minerals

This is a misguided statement. Orchids (like all plants) need minerals, but in small amounts. Often times tap water is too hard for orchids. Phrags in particular are sensitive to hard water, so it is common practice to use rain, distilled, or RO water for them. Some people use pure water for all their plants. As long as they get frequent, weak doses of fertilizer they get what they need.

Of course if you watered with only pure water (or for that matter, only tap water) and never fertilized you'd have dying plants!