Plant Nutrition

Brown, crisp leaf edges and a plant wilting in wet soil a few days after feeding point to fertiliser burn: salts pulling water out of the roots. How to tell it from heat scorch, waterlogging, salty water and potassium deficiency, how to flush it out of beds and pots, and how to feed so it does not happen again.

Yellow leaves on your vegetables? Which leaves showed it first, and the shape of the yellow, point to the likely missing nutrient. Here is how to read the pattern, rule out the look-alikes and fix the cause before you feed.