My city water is very hard and I know JM loves acidity and hates salt. Nothing I can do about that but I can get rid of the chlorine and chloramine with these filters. Maybe it will make a difference in the summer! These are actually shower filters and I had to purchased 2 brass adapters to get it to fit into the garden hose. I know they also make filters specifically for this purpose but they can run $40.
It isn't chlorine/chloramine that causes your hard water, it is various forms of dissolved calcium. You can apply iron sulfate to your soil. I've pounded stakes into the ground around the drip line, pulled them out and filled the holes almost entirely with iron sulfate. I was in the Rocky Mountain US then and it was good for about two years. If you are pot growing, just toss on the iron sulfate at the recommended rate as soon as you see signs of chlorosis. If you don't have chlorosis problems, then using an acid fertilizer like MirAcid or any kind indicated to be for acid loving plants or azleas will likely do.
We have a high volume/flow rate .5 micron NSF 53 certified industrial filters for our whole home and watering hoses. (40,000 gallon filter life, rated .5 micron at 4 gallons per minute) Our water taste great and all our JM and other plants love it. We rarely get leaf scorch and most seasons never. Before the filters we always got leaf scorch. The trees would only get one push of growth, now they grow several times a year. It's also great on our skin during Winter. They made a huge difference in our garden and container grown plants. Also don't let people tell you that waiting 24 hours for chlorine to off gas's works, it does not in the modern use of chloramine that is bonded to ammonia. Rain water is best of course! But the last several seasons we hit hot and dry by mid June and the ground is cracking by mid July. Any rain water is gone and city water only keeps things alive but looking terrible, while my filtered water allows thing to look beautiful and thrive all Summer long. This allows for a great fall show too because the leaves are undamaged for the brilliant peak Fall showing at the end of the season.
