How to Revive an Overfertilized Plant

It is possible to kill a plant with kindness. Overfertilizing occurs when the gardener applies more than the recommended amount of fertilizer, when plants are fertilized without having been watered first or if fertilizer is left on the foliage. Signs of overfertilization are clear: brown or yellow spots on the leaves, wilting and even death.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Garden Hoses
• Watering Cans
• Scissors

1. Dilute the amount of fertilizer in the soil by leaching with water. Leaching is the process of running ample amounts of water around the roots to drive the excess fertilizer deep into the soil, past the root zone.
2. Allow the water to trickle from the hose at the base of the plant for at least 1/2 hour.
3. Fill the pot with water, then drain at least four times if the plant is in a container. The nitrogen in the fertilizer damages the roots so that the plant can't utilize nutrients. The water flushes the fertilizer past the root zone and out the drain hole.
4. Remove any damaged or burned-looking foliage by cutting it away with scissors. Injured foliage can't be revived. It's best to remove it completely. The plant will grow new leaves eventually.
5. Rinse plants with fresh water after fertilizing with fertilizers high in nitrogen. By removing the excess fertilizer from the leaves, the foliage has less tendency to burn. This is especially true in hot weather.

Tips & Warnings

• Always follow label directions when fertilizing. More is not necessarily better.
• If you feel that your plants need additional feeding, use the fertilizer at half strength, twice as often.

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