Would You Forgo Having Plants Just To Save Water?

I think not having plants, solely to save water, is a little extreme. I can understand not having the time to take care of them - but water isn't that expensive.

 

As my plants are almost all edible as well, or produce food, for me it's worth the time it takes to water them and the money for the water. I also collect rain water and use that though, so that makes it even cheaper to water them, aside from the cost of the barrel to collect water in, in the first place.

 

No, I would not forego having plants just to save water.
You can use everything from rainwater to bathwater to water plants.
I've even heard of people using the drained water from canned vegetables or the last 3 swallows of bottled water from a bottle that has been sitting around for days to water their plants. Plants have more than decorative value, they improve indoor air quality so giving up plants is a false economy.

 

I too would agree that going without plants - with a view to saving water - would be somewhat extreme - as apart from there being numerous ways of watering plants for free - as well as many, many ways of keeping plants moist - there is absolutely no reason - providing you are growing plants suited to your climate and are not trying to grow water guzzling plants or a lawn in a drought prone area - why you would be needing to use copious amounts of water - particularly as the majority of plants don't actually need as much water as many seem to think.

In fact - even though I live in an arid drought prone area with an extremely hot desert like climate - where rain is scare to say the least - I manage to grow a huge variety of ornamental plants - as well as all my own produce - fruit, vegetables, nuts and herbs - with watering costs minimal to zero.

As apart from having chosen drought tolerant plants suited to my climate - which generally don't require any extra water - as they thrive amazingly well with nothing more than the occasional bit of rain - the plants that do require water - mainly vegetables and some of the fruits - are watered with a drip irrigation system fed by ground water - however although its free - as water of every description is very precious here - especially as it can and does often dry up towards the end of the summer - I tend to use it wisely - by not watering more than is necessary and putting mulch around the plants to retain moisture for longer.

That said - even if I did have to pay for water - I wouldn't ever forgo growing plants and especially not edibles - for the simple reason - that not only do my plants bring me and the people I gift them to an enormous amount of pleasure - but the savings made from growing all my own produce fair outweigh the small cost of irrigation - particularly as the savings from not having had to buy produce from a store in the past 12 years - are way beyond substantial.

 

I most certainly wouldn't forgo having plants to save money on water. The vegetables I grow save me a lot more money than I spend watering them when I have to. And there are ways you can save money on water. You could collect rain water and use it for watering your plants.

 

That is easily solved by installing an drip irrigation system - as not only does it take no time at all to water the plants - particularly as it only takes a couple of seconds to switch on or none at all if you have a timer - but as these systems use very little water compared to a hose pipe or watering can - they are a way more cost effective method of watering altogether - both in terms of time and money..

 

I use recycled water to save water and money for my herbs growing like aloe and broad leaf plantain. We have ferns and a special rubber plant that my Uncle gave us that we take care of in my little backyard apt. home. We use recycled water from washing dishes and we give water to our family Buddhist altar daily so this water goes to the plants too. The plants flourish and I like to have these herbs handy. Using recycled water is a good money saver and you can have plants thrive on it like in my little potted plant yard. I take care of 7 potted plants to include my ti leaf for good luck plant.

 

I just re-use water that I use for my laundry, shower and dishes and throw it in my garden. It is worth it! I would rather see pretty flower that I grow with grey water instead of having that water just go down the drain.

 

We are presently experiencing drought here in the Philippines and some newspaper columnists are admonishing the golf courses for the use of water to tend the grass. Even trees would wither if it goes without water for a time with the present heat so I think water is very important for plants. We are gardeners of sorts so you can expect that we spend much for water. But as much as we can, we reuse or recycle the water just to save - laundry water can be used to water the grass. At least it can lessen the heat in the atmosphere.

 

No I don't think I could do that. I love how plants add to the ambiance of a room. I love how they can clean the air in your home. What I do to save water is I take the water left over in my kids water bottles and empty them into my watering can and use that to water my plants.Think about it. My two kids sometimes come home with 2 full water bottles from school 5 days a week. That water really adds up. It seems wasteful to me to pour the water down the drain when I can use it water my plants. If it's the summer time I'll just pour the water right into my garden to give the my plants a drink.

 

I do not think that going without plants would be a good idea just to save money on water. When I was growing up, we had a dehumidifier in the basement and my dad would collect the water from it and use it to water the roses and the garden that we had. It saved on the amount of water we used and had to pay for. There are other ways to save money on water without foregoing the plants. Plants are an important part of our ecosystem.

 

In areas that have draught situations you water less to save water but you still need plants to help with keeping the air clean. I would never do without plants in my home or yard, the large lawns can be reduced but we still need plants for food and clean air

 

I live in the desert southwest, so all my plants outside are cacti and succulents. They require very little water to keep in good condition, and too much water can kill them. I would not go without plants just to save water.

 

I have plastic plants in my home not to save money as such, but because I'm rubbish at remembering to do things regularly, and I am fairly sure that I would simply forget to water them and cause them to die. So by buying artificial ones instead I find that I can keep my home looking nice and bright without having to put any extra effort into it at all.

 

Plants are essential to our existence. Therefore, I would have to ensure that there is adequate recycled water to take care of the plants, one such move would be to redirect the rinse water from the washing machine into a catchment so it could be used to water the plants.

 

We have plants but I don't think I waste that much water on them and whatever I do pay in expenses just to keep them alive, I think I make back so much in brightening up my environment and keeping my air fresh. Without it I would probably be that much less healthy and I think that's something I'd be willing to spend just a few cups of water on daily. If I really wanted to save I think I'd look somewhere else and try to exhaust all my other options before giving up on plants because they provide so much value in return albeit just a subtle one.