Tag: fertilizer

I have a few house plants I like to mess around with when I get new sets of nutrients.  In the picture I have my purple passion vine in a condition that is starting to show signs of over fertilization.  These house plants only need nutrients every 2-4 weeks at most but sometimes I’ll hit it every week for a few weeks at a time to see if the growth jumps.  The plant is mostly rooted in the container so it is at its max requirement for nutrition.  I water it every day pretty much.  During today’s daily watering I noticed there was water in the tray and the plant had leaf fringes that were down turned.  This plant naturally curls its leaves some, but i could tell the difference in structure right away.

The down turned leaves could be a sign of over fertilization or nutrient salt build up.  These can both be fixed by simply watering with plain water every day until symptoms disappear.  Good consistent soil waterings can wash the extra salt build up in the plants roots.  If you are running a hydroponics system then do a reservoir change and drop the PPM (parts per million) of your nutrient solution.  If you don’t have a ppm or EC meter there is no need to worry.  Just fill the reservoir up by a set amount of gallons or liters and pay attention to the amount of nutrients added per gallon/liter.  The packaging for the nutrients should say what they recommend to use for soil or soiless grow mediums.   I usually cut their recommended mixture in half to be on the safe side.  You’ll especially want to use a low end estimate if your plants are showing signs of over fertilization.  In a hydroponic reservoir the solution can also be dropped to one fourth the recommended solution to rinse out salt build ups.  Make sure to top off the tank with fresh water or 1/4 solution to keep the levels high before the next reservoir change.