Fertilizer Burn?Yeah!, well the first time I read this term I was a little confused too, it was because I pictured something really strange in my mind, but
Root/Fertilizer Burn: Too Much of a Good Thing!
For a lot of us plant lovers, witches and herbalists, it can be rather disappointing when a beloved plant just won’t put on the foliage that you’d like to see, especially if you’re taking trimmings for spells or recipes regularly. A great option to help give your plant a boost is to regularly fertilize, but with all good things, there can always be too much.
When fertilizers are used excessively, symptoms of root burn are easy to spot; the leaves can look crispy and burnt around the edges, limp, lifeless, or simply dead. You’ll notice this fairly soon after you fertilize or within weeks if its a slow release formula.
You might think you could avoid this by using organic fertilizers like compost and manure, but this is not so. While it’s easier to burn your plant with a chemical fertilizer, natural options can still hurt. Compost can saturate the soil and could very easily kill your plant if untreated.
So what do you do?
To prevent root burn:
Always check the label on your fertilizers and follow the directions. Less is truly more. And if you are using compost, never put large amounts of pure compost in either the pot they go in, or the hole you’ve dug for them and set the plant on top of it. While your plant might survive this, it is always better safe than sorry. If you want to use a pot, mix a small amount into pure dirt or used potting soil or alternatively on the topsoil around the plant, not touching the leaves. A new bag of unused potting soil or garden soil will not need any extra nutrients for a while. If you are planting directly into the ground, plant as you usually would then spread an even amount of compost on the topsoil around the plant, never putting the compost in direct contact with its stems or foliage.
If your plant already root burn:
Try your best to remove as much fertilizer as you physically can and then saturate the soil with water to flush away any that remains.
For more information about the science behind fertilizer burn, I’ve linked this article above!