[gonnate]

We have a couple of blueberry plants in pots, given to my wife last August.
They've flowered and are going to be working on fruiting quite soon, but I'm worried about how best to water them. Only use rainwater, it says on the label, as they need lime-free water.
Up until now that's been fine but we have no source of rainwater left, and it's hot & dry. 
  OK, you'd noticed that!
Does filtered water, from a Brita type jug filter, successfully get rid of the stuff, please?
I'd hate to see them keel over for lack of water, meanwhile I don't want to damage them with the wrong sort of water either.

Thanks for any help here.
Best wishes.

[JayG]

We touched on this topic a day or so ago; my feelings are that allowing a blueberry plant to dry out could be fatal but watering with water with a pH higher than rainwater would not harm it in the short term if it is growing in the right sort of compost.

Again, I'm not an expert but I believe that water-filters/softeners remove some of the salts responsible for water hardness and higher pH values, so is almost certainly a better bet than tap water, especially if yours is "hard".

[Trillium]

Add a tablespoon or two of white vinegar to one litre ofyour water and that should keep it towards the preferred acidic side for the blueberries.

[vet]

Thank you Trillium, wondered what to do when my rain water ran out

[gonnate]

Thanks to all - this is really useful. Filter plus vinegar it is, then!

And I'm sorry if I duplicated stuff you'd done a few days ago - I should have read the backlog first.

Enjoy the sunshine!
Richard.

[digby]

I believe that you can also allow the tap water to stand for a while and it has a similar effect - I remember when we had fish you had to leave it for 24 hours before adding the fish for the same reason, as it allows the chorine in the water to settle.  I have just filled up my water butts with the water from the kids paddling pool this weekend and will be using that to water my blueberries.

I used this method last year and they were fine.

[Trillium]

Leaving out chlorinated water for a few days to  dissipate the chlorine is a very good idea for all plants, but for blueberries its helpful to have a bit more acidity in the water, hence the vinegar. It isn't necessary but certainly maintains a more acidic soil pH.