Impacts to House Plants  

House plants and container-grown ornamentals have a very small soil profile to live in. Salts and mineral deposits build up in the soil even under normal conditions. You may have noticed a white build up on your pots, or a slight crust on the soil surface of potted plants.

If salts are allowed to build up, it can kill the tips of the roots or cause root rot, crispy leaf margins, wilting, or death.

Current recommendations are:

• Flush the pots with fresh water every 4-6 months to leach excess salt from the soil.
• Let the water drain through the whole soil profile and out of the bottom of the pot.
• The amount of water used should equal twice the volume of the pot.  

Impacts to Home Lawns

Of our four common turfgrasses, Bermudagrass, St. Augustine, and zoysia are all salt tolerant and come from parts of the world with elevated salinity.

Centipede grass is not as salt tolerant as the other three turfs, but it is less commonly used in the area. As the cool season approaches lawns will begin going dormant in the coming months. Most lawns that were not irrigated all summer are severely drought stressed.

If resodding this fall, choose one of the salt tolerant turfs and follow normal establishment water schedules.

Impacts to Home Landscaping

Salt damage to landscape plants can manifest as stunted growth, burned leaf edges, and inhibited ability for the plant to take up necessary nutrients from the soil.

• Mulch landscape beds with 3-4 inches or more of pine straw, bark, or wood mulch. Mulching helps to retain soil moisture from natural rainfall and prevent the evaporation of soil moisture.
  • This means that there is less demand for irrigation water from plants. Fall has always been the ideal time to renew landscaping mulch and it can help mitigate the impact of the salt on your garden now.
• Install rain barrels. Rain barrels are a great way to reduce your water bill and provide plants with untreated soft water.

Impacts to Home Vegetable Gardens 

Vegetable gardens will be a little trickier to manage. Water with salt levels above 1,000 parts per million (ppm) can kill some vegetable plants, including beans and cucumbers. This is where having a rain barrel can come in handy!

• Vegetables with moderate salt tolerance include cauliflower, arugula, chard, collards, carrots, some lettuces, peas, potatoes, squashes, and sweet corn.
• Vegetables with high salt tolerance include beets, peppers, broccoli, cabbage, kale, spinach, garlic, asparagus, and tomatoes.
• The most salt sensitive vegetables include beans, onions, cucumbers, radishes, and celery.
• Many of our favorite herbs should also fare well, even with some salt in the mix.

Adding soil organic matter (compost) and a thick layer of mulch reduces the need to water vegetable and herb gardens. Other areas of the world have found locally adapted crops that can handle these conditions, and we can too!

Impacts to Citrus and Other Fruit Trees

Young trees are more sensitive to salt than older, mature trees. Stunting and leaf burn can result if salts build up in young citrus groves.

Watering fruit trees at night reduces water evaporation and salt deposition. Established, in-ground fruit trees should be watered once per week, deeply, only if needed.

If you are growing fruit trees in containers as a patio plant or nursery stock, salts may build up within the reduced soil space over time if you water using salty supplies.

Doing a weekly “flush” using rainwater or some other salt-free source will help prevent this build up even if you are watering daily with salty water. Natural rainfall also accomplishes this.

Avoid allowing the containers to dry out. As soils dry, salt concentrations build in the soil solution, increasing water stress.

It’s better to water frequently and keep the soil hydrated. Most fertilizers contain salt, and it is better to fertilize at low rates more frequently than high rates less frequently when plants are exposed to irrigation water containing elevated salt. 

• Loquat, persimmons, blueberries, figs, Barbados cherry, guava, passionfruit, pineapple, and bananas are all moderately salt tolerant.
• Avocado, pomegranate, and citrus are salt sensitive.
• Citrus varies in salt tolerance based on cultivar and rootstock used.