Greenhouse decline: salt, disease and burn arriving together
One sterilisation is not a rotation.
- Salt patches plus sick plants in the house; more death each year.
- Not one missing nutrient.
- Worse after every feed is a signal, not “not enough fertiliser”.
- Disease can be there, but salt and fertiliser burn often sit with it.
- Don’t only feed; don’t strip the house without an EC.
- EC: Stricter at seedling. Follow the local vegetable safety band. Too high: wash salt and stop the feed first
- Name what you see before you feed.
- If leaves, roots and the surface disagree, stop.
What you see in the field
Salt patches plus sick plants in the house; more death each year. Not one missing nutrient.Patchy dead plants: look at the roots first — knots, brown rot, stained pipes — not the thin white roots of hunger. A rotated neighbour that still looks well is the contrast that counts.
Tap to enlarge. The caption says what to photograph. Missing field photos are marked as to-be-added.
Why it looks like this
The field looks like this because the root cannot take water or nutrients the usual way. Fix the soil condition first — drainage, salt, acidity, compaction or a salt of fertiliser — then a thin feed. Rates live in the range on this page; confirm with a local station and the label.
Easy to mix up
Looks like “Treating it as a shortage”
Worse after every feed is a signal, not “not enough fertiliser”.
Looks like “Treating it as a disease”
Disease can be there, but salt and fertiliser burn often sit with it.
Do this / don’t do that
- 1Compare the worst plants with a neighbour ridge. Photograph whole plant, close-up and soil surface before you add fertiliser.
- 2Match roots, leaves and the soil surface to this guide. If they do not line up, do not copy a bag count.
- 3Use the rate range on this page only as a range. Confirm with a local station and the product label.
Don’t do this first
- Don’t only feed; don’t strip the house without an EC.
Rate range
EC
Stricter at seedling. Follow the local vegetable safety band
Too high: wash salt and stop the feed first.
Rotation
Change the family at least
Steadier than spraying again and again.
These are ranges. Confirm with your local extension station and the product label.
How soon after a spray or a feed it showed
A 1–3 day burst looks more like spray injury / fertiliser burn.
When you see Salt patches plus sick plants in the house; more death each year. Not one missing nutrient, test. If the leaf and the soil disagree, test before you pour.
Lesson video
2026-03-02 · Li Zeyu · For learning. Serious damage: local agronomist or a soil test.
For learning only. Fertiliser and pesticide decisions need a local agronomist and a soil test.
Not sure? Photograph the field to identify the problem