[Arid_gardener] Re: Salt Burn

[Olin Miller]

Your "man at the nursery" is probably right.  Salt burn usually shows up as
brown leaf tips and is often due to high salt content in the irrigation
water and soil.  It is pretty common in our arid climate, particularly with
shallow irrigation and especially so with drip irrigation.  But there are
also other causes of leaf tip burn:  over fertilization, phosphorus
deficiency, pesticides, for example.

One way to eliminate the salt accumulation is to leach the salts from the
root zone with deep irrigation.  If there is an irrigation well around the
tree, let a hose run slowly in the tree well for a day or so.  Repeat
several times each year to prevent salt build up.  With drip irrigation it
is more difficult.  Running the drip irrigation continuously for several
days might help.

Olin Miller, Master Gardener Volunteer
U of A Cooperative Extension, Maricopa County AZ
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----- Original Message ----- From: <Chvymnn at aol.com>
Sent: Friday, June 22, 2007 9:01 AM
> Larry Morrow
> 85208
> Chvymnn at aol.com
>   Hi,
>   I have enjoyed your site for a long time, and it has made me a better
> Gardner.
>   My question is the tips of the leaves on some of my plants are turning
> brown. The man at the nursery said that it was the salt in the water and
> soil. Is there any type of treatment that can help me take care of this
> problem?