Signs of over-fertilized Plants

Stunted Cosmos plant

Fertilizing your plants can help them to get the nutrients they require for their overall growth. But at the same time over fertilized plants can cause more harm than good. Overfertilizing your plants can reduce their ability to take up water. When too much fertilizer is added the concentration of dissolved salts increases around the roots which in turn reverses the flow of water. Water starts to flow from leaves out to the roots and this burns your plants.

Signs of over-fertilized plants:

• Slow or stunted growth
• Leaf margin tips turn brown
• Wilting of lower plant leaves
• Crust of fertiliser found in soil surface
• Plant resistance to pests and disease decreases

How to treat them

• If you find any crust of fertiliser found in the soil surface, remove it.
• You can leach your plants with long watering. This removes the excess nutrients from the roots.
• Next cut the damaged parts of the plant and avoid fertilizing for a month.