HELP!! dumped liquid cactus plant food on my pathos plant!!!

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clairethenovice Saint Paul, MN Mar 25, 2015

this shit is supposed to be used like, seven drops at a time. the brand name is Schultz Cactus Plus liquid plant food. my pathos plant is named baybay and is currently in a pot that it got re-potted in a couple weeks ago, which is probably about a gallon volume wise. I spooned some top layer full of the liquid food off when it happened...what is the worst case scenario here? should I r-pot him within the next 24 hours?...Or is it more like when humans take too many vitamins and just flush it out??? also maybe to be noted is that Baybay's pot does have holes at teh bottom for excess water.

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momlady Camano Island, WA(Zone 8a) Mar 26, 2015

Flush with water ASAP. Put the plant in a sink or somewhere it can drain freely, flush with lots of water, and let the water flow out through the holes. Keep going until you think all the fertilizer is gone. In doubt, rinse more rather than less. If concentrated fertilizer is on the roots it will burn them. Once it is flushed out, you can start from scratch, fertilizer-wise. Wait a while (2 weeks, 4 weeks, I don't really know) and resume fertilizing again. Good luck with your plant!

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Diana_K Contra Costa County, CA(Zone 9b) Mar 26, 2015

Ditto:

While liquid fertilizers are weak (you are mostly buying water, and paying to ship this water around) there are enough salts in there to cause problems.
Since it is water soluble, flush out the fertilizer as suggested by momlady.

If you have more house plants or a garden you could catch the water in a bucket and share it with the other plants. Several rinsings (several bucket-fulls) would be the minimum I would try.

Pothos (not Pathos) is the common name.

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clairethenovice Saint Paul, MN Mar 26, 2015

Diana_K: Yeah I thought it was Pothos but then my co-worker said it was pathos.

What is the first sign of the roots burning? I did not rinse it last night, is it too late?

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clairethenovice Saint Paul, MN Mar 26, 2015

also: if the plant is doomed, should I try to salvage some of it by transplanting it now?

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purpleinopp Opp, AL(Zone 8b) Mar 26, 2015

Pathos is an issue with ones' mental health. Pothos is a vine plant. ;) Yes, I would take a couple cuttings as insurance.

Thumbnail by purpleinopp
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Diana_K Contra Costa County, CA(Zone 9b) Mar 26, 2015

Salt burn shows up in the leaves, the tips and edges turn brown and crispy.

If you take it out of the pot and rinse off the soil you might also see root damage.

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