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what is this white residue?
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Posted by venustrapgirl (My Page) on Mon, Nov 16, 09 at 0:04
| Hi, I've just been noticing this white residue on the soil of my tomato plants recently; I don't know what it is? (photo below)
Would anyone else have ideas? Just for info,
- The temperature is scalding; 30+ degrees celsius every day and the plants are out in full sunlight
- I water very thoroughly every morning, leave the plants in the sun all day, and don't water again until the next morning.
- I use a water-solouble fertilizer once a week in the recommended amounts on the box.
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Follow-Up Postings:
RE: what is this white residue?
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| hard to tell in those small pictures looks like salt residues from fertilizers (water source could contribute some) If it builds up too much it can harm the plants. You can leach it out with running a water. Scrape off some of the top soil and replace with new. |
RE: what is this white residue?
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| Thanks mulio, they do look like tiny sale granules when I look up close... So is there anything I can do to avoid that kind of build-up? What signs of 'harming the plant' should I look for? I tried taking off that top soil, but realised the residue was sunk quite deep! |
RE: what is this white residue?
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| the salts could be there from the water source and the fertilizers fertilizer use is necessary but try to use those with lower salt indexes (almost all forms of nitrogen will have a fairly high amount with urea being the lowest form you'd likely use). Potassium chloride also has a higher index than other forms of potassium. if you can, leave water at a low volume flooding the pot for a while. This will help leach it some. Then you can try other water sources such as collecting rain water which shouldnt have as many hard water deposits. some of the signs of salt damage are yellowing older leaves, reduced vigor and browning of the leaf margins. |
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