How to Get Rid of Salt in Houseplant Soil (Part 2)

This video checks in on a plant that had toxic salt buildup in the soil. See how the plant is doing now after being treated for salt buildup. Learn the signs of toxic salt buildup in the soil and what to do.

0:00-Intro 0:20-Sponsor 1:00-Dracaena

Hello and welcome to HealthyHouseplants.com, where we teach you all about gardening in the great indoors! Today’s video is sponsored by our Amazon affiliate link, which you’ll find in the description below. You’ll also see links to any videos I mention in this video.

Today, we’re checking back in with a really nice-looking Dracaena. This Dracaena was featured in a video from February 2019 when it was suffering from toxic salt syndrome in the soil. Toxic salt build-up can occur when salts accumulate in the soil, causing root damage and leaf tip burn. This plant was severely affected at the time, and you can see that in the prior video (link below). However, now you can see that it looks much healthier.

There are different ways to deal with toxic salt build-up. This plant was repotted, but another method you can use is leaching the soil, which involves rinsing the toxic salts out. I have a video on that as well. You can see the new growth here, and although there is still a little bit of leaf tip burn, the newer leaves coming in from the center of the plant look great. This is a good sign that the plant is recovering and thriving in its new soil. The leaves are more vibrant, and the overall health of the plant has greatly improved compared to a little over a year ago.

When you notice leaf tip burn and a sickly appearance in your plant, it could be due to toxic salt build-up, which can come from water with high salinity or from fertilizers. Even organic fertilizers contain salts that can accumulate over time, but chemical fertilizers are more likely to cause quick salt burn. If you fertilize regularly and notice salt burn, that might be the cause.

I wanted to show you what you can expect after repotting or leaching—your plant can come back to life and look great. This Dracaena looked like it might not survive, but now it’s thriving. There are still some areas where leaves were trimmed due to the salt build-up, but with the new growth coming in from the center, the plant will continue to improve in appearance.

Thank you for stopping by today! Please leave any comments about indoor gardening tutorials you’d like to see. Remember to like, comment, subscribe, and share this video. If you’re a subscriber and want to be notified when we upload new videos, please check the bell.