thx pharmacan for the info. for the reasons you listed alone is why i have acquired a water softener. just was unsure if i could use it for watering plants, and hopefully i can!

guess this would be a good test before getting into r/o water for extra cash. especially since i own the softener just need to install.

and from what redeye was sayin about buying filtered r/o water, sound like thats the bottled water you buy at the supermarket..etc so that might be a temp solution to test water problems. also i totally agree you get back what you put into the system. just piecing things together when i can, and just testing and experimenting in the mean time.

thx you guys for the valuable info.