[Arid_gardener] Re: Salt Burn

[Dick Gross]

Salts cannot evaporate by transpIration. They pack up in leaves starting at
the tips and creaping up the fringes progressively killing cells until there
are not sufficient carbohydrates produced through photosynthesis to maintain
the organism and the plant dies an agonizing death with much screaming and
moaning. Many plants can survive with our water of 8 some odd percent salt
if flush irrigation is employed but you can never muster enough magic to get
less than the water contains. You can only flush it out of the root system
and hope the organism can survive with what it cannot escape.

Salt can only accummulate through the mechanism of evaporation
(transpiration if through leaf pores-like sweating). Moisture leaving the
leaf or any surface is in a vapor form. All water soluable minerals stay
behind. Some of the minerals themselves may evaporate at the end of a blow
torch, but, unless you want to fry your zucchini before you pick it, don't
use it.

Dick Gross, Master Gardener Volunteer
University of Arizona
Maricopa County Cooperative Extension

---- Original Message ----- 
From: "Olin Miller" <olindmiller at att.net>
To: <arid_gardener at Ag.arizona.edu>; <Chvymnn at aol.com>
Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2007 5:26 PM
Subject: [Arid_gardener] Re: Salt Burn


> 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
> ==========================================
>
> ----- 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?
>
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