Question
Hi!  What would you say about San Jose, CA water quality?  I think it is pretty hard, am I right?  How would I modify it for my orchids.  It is so strange bec when I put my orchid in my office in Morgan Hill under fluorescent lights, it was ok.  when I was horrified to find out that the orchids I had at home in San Jose had rotten roots bec my bark had decomposed, I brought it home.  The roots looked bone dry and so I soaked it in SuperThrive.  Then I potted it with lava rocks at the bottom and bark again on top.  But when I brought it to Morgan Hill, the flowers kind of closed a little and it looks droopy!  They don't look as beautiful and fresh as before I brought it home.  I took out the stick and it is wet, not soaking wet.  Whenever I water my plants in  San Jose, there is always a powdery residue on the leaves, even if I water it just once.  Does San Jose water have heavy mineral content?  so in that case, I should not fertilize them bec they already get a lot of minerals from the water?  Thanks.

Answer
Hi Diane,

Yes, San Jose water is considered hard water!  One of the best ways to modify the water for a few orchids is to get a Brita water purifier available at most stores in the area.  

Actually, even with San Jose's hard water you will need to feed it some fertilizer because there is not enough "good" minerals in it, only too much of the "bad" minerals for orchids.  

A word of caution regarding rotten roots.  The usual cause for roots becoming rotten are watering too often and also the potting media breaking down or a combination of both.  For most orchids, it is best to allow the potting media to become barely moist between waterings.  

The droopy flowers may be due to exposure to sudden temperature changes when you take it from home to your office in Morgan Hill.  Sudden changes greater than 15F can shock them, causing them to wilt and prematurely die.  

Hey, although I've lived in south San Jose for over 45 years, I spent my younger days growing up in and around Morgan Hill, actually Coyote for about 12 years and San Martin for 6 years.  A lot has changed over the years!  I can remember when Morgan Hill was a small town less than 600 total population, what is it now, close to 40,000?  Where Cochrane Square Shopping Center is used to be the Morgan Hill airport, they moved it to San Martin many years ago.  

Hope this helped.

Jim Kawasaki
San Jose, Ca.