Salt burn Vs Low Potassium ?

[Nievesgirl]

My Heartbreak Hotel , and Voodoo have what looks like salt burn. I was reading in my hibiscus book that this could be low potassium. I have not fertilized for a few weeks due to me using the booster full strength.

Does salt burn make holes in the center of the leaves ? The book describes low Potassium as green leaves with burn like edges, my voo doo has those symptoms on a few leaves. HeartB hotel has burn like cuts and holes in a few leaves.

I am quiet sure the HeartB hotel has Salt burn , but I am not sure about the voodoo I will get some picture maybe tomorrow.

[Darkhorse]

Do you have pictures?  That sounds just like something that was going on with all my old plants.  See "What Pest Causes This?"

[Charlie]

Hi Kerry,

Did you notice if the Heartbreak Hotel developed white spots first, before they became holes? If so, that is caused by moving plants that have been grown in shade into the direct sun. The "sunburn" first causes white spots on the leaves and sometimes the white tissue disintegrates later on leaving a hole. In southern CA leaf holes can be snails, slugs, or grasshoppers but since you are growing on your balconies these seem doubtful. Almost all hibiscus growers grow their "for sale" plants in varying amounts of shade. The more lush the plant on arrival the more likely it is to burn until the leaves acclimate. A few spots and holes are nothing to worry about if that is the case.

It is highly unlikely that your hibiscus are deficient in potassium, particularly since you added very high dose potassium not too long ago (Booster). The nitrogen in Booster (potassium nitrate) is known to burn hibiscus leaves if used too strong and that would be my best guess for what you are seeing. How dry do you let the hibiscus get? Dryness can cause burned edges with just a little too much dissolved salts in the pot. I think Jordan tried leaching with good results.

Charlie

[Nievesgirl]

Hi Kerry,

Did you notice if the Heartbreak Hotel developed white spots first, before they became holes? If so, that is caused by moving plants that have been grown in shade into the direct sun. The "sunburn" first causes white spots on the leaves and sometimes the white tissue disintegrates later on leaving a hole. In southern CA leaf holes can be snails, slugs, or grasshoppers but since you are growing on your balconies these seem doubtful. Almost all hibiscus growers grow their "for sale" plants in varying amounts of shade. The more lush the plant on arrival the more likely it is to burn until the leaves acclimate. A few spots and holes are nothing to worry about if that is the case.

It is highly unlikely that your hibiscus are deficient in potassium, particularly since you added very high dose potassium not too long ago (Booster). The nitrogen in Booster (potassium nitrate) is known to burn hibiscus leaves if used too strong and that would be my best guess for what you are seeing. How dry do you let the hibiscus get? Dryness can cause burned edges with just a little too much dissolved salts in the pot. I think Jordan tried leaching with good results.

Charlie

Thanks for the info Charlie ,

Well The heart break hotel gets the most light I moved it because its so big, I also am having an hard time determining when to water the plants. The heartbreak hotel needs a lot of water but some times the soil feels moist enough to me buut then the next day the leaves are a little wilted.

How can one determine when to water ?

[Darkhorse]

Charlie,

  Can a hib get too much sun, and continue to get sunburned?  I know the leaves get sunburned when the plant is suddenly moved into more light, but do they always acclimate well to their new environment?  Just curious.  The leaching seemed to help with my big old Voodoo Magic, but the problem came back shortly after despite using accurate amounts of fertilizer.  Now I'm wondering if the old Voodoo was sunburned.

[Nievesgirl]

ok here are the pictures

Heartbreak hotel







Voodoo Magic

[helixturnhelix]

Yah, that looks like Nitrogen burn to me.  I had the same thing happen to my blue ballerina and Acapulco gold last year,  I would try flushing the pots with distilled water.  I only say distilled because it lacks any minerals and therefore has no saturation, therefore any fertilizer salts would mix quite nicely and flush out of the pot.  Fertilizer burn is the main reason I switched to organic fertilizers.  I was able to find OMRI bio grow (the same stuff HVH recomends, but are always out of stock) at pacific hydroponics, I use it every time I water along with kelp extract.  I get excellent growth and flower color and I dont have to worry about fertilizer burn.  Since you have all potted plants, the chance of over fertilizing is greater than in the ground, so if you want not have to worry about it go organic! 

[Nievesgirl]

Yah, that looks like Nitrogen burn to me.  I had the same thing happen to my blue ballerina and Acapulco gold last year,  I would try flushing the pots with distilled water.  I only say distilled because it lacks any minerals and therefore has no saturation, therefore any fertilizer salts would mix quite nicely and flush out of the pot.  Fertilizer burn is the main reason I switched to organic fertilizers.  I was able to find OMRI bio grow (the same stuff HVH recomends, but are always out of stock) at pacific hydroponics, I use it every time I water along with kelp extract.  I get excellent growth and flower color and I dont have to worry about fertilizer burn.  Since you have all potted plants, the chance of over fertilizing is greater than in the ground, so if you want not have to worry about it go organic! 

Well when I got the heartbreak hotel , I transfered it to a new pot and gave it the HVH booster. This was around end of april beginning of may ? I have not fertilized it since ( I did yesterday with regular HVH fertilizer) The Nightfire arrived the same time and I gave it booster also it does not have burnt leaves. The nightfire is shaded more than the heart break hotel. I did move the Heart break hotel to a sunny spot so I am not sure. With the voodoo I can't remember what i did to it but I am sure I did not fertilize this cv either. I transfered them at the same time. My gator pride is fine so are the other cv's

[Nievesgirl]

Forgot to say its funny you mentioned distilled water lol My bf works with a water filteration company and he told me a woman came in to get filters for her organic produce farm. She said that her crops look better taste better since she has been using water filteration for her crops. My bf told me to use my run off water from my RO/Di unit.  Then use the DI after plants get use to the RO.  I already made a 5 gallon jug full of water. I use the DI for my aquarium.

[helixturnhelix]

I need to get an RO/Di unit when I set up my Discus tank, how much do they usually run?

[Nievesgirl]

I need to get an RO/Di unit when I set up my Discus tank, how much do they usually run?

I got my 6 stage filter from Filters Direct ,It was 99 bucks when I got it 4.5 years ago , Its the cheapest yet best ro/di unit . A lot of aquarium buddies have this same unit.  The price Has gone up but I still think it cheapest unit you can find that has 6 stages most will only have 3-4 for stages for over $220 bucks

Make sure to get a TDS meter , I got mine of ebay for $15 bucks I think.

Filters Direct is local and this is what I like about them too
http://filterdirect.com/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=29

You can get a pump to help speed up the Di making process. ( literally it takes all day to make 5 gallons)

There are different filters with GPD ( gallons per day) so if you want to make the water faster get a unit with high GPD. I still need to buy a pump because it atkes so long to get the DI water

[Nievesgirl]

I guess I did not get rid of the salt burn in Voodoo ! Some of the leaves look nasty. I rinsed the spoil 3 times with 0 TDS my heartbreak looks ok but I see some burn spots forming. I might need to use organic fertilizer on these two until I get all of the salt from the soil.