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Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

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Thursday - June 29, 2006

From: Long Beach, CA
Region: California
Topic: Pests
Title: Effects of salt sprinkled on garden
Answered by: Nan Hampton and Andrea DeLong-Amaya

QUESTION:

The kids accidentally sprinkled salt on the plants in the garden. How do you counter the effect of the salt so the plants will not die. I would appreciate your response. Thank you.

ANSWER:

I am assuming the kids used a salt shaker or a box of salt to do their "gardening". If it was a salt shaker and you can't really see any salt on the ground or on the plants, you are probably just fine with washing the plants with a hose and then giving them a good watering to dilute and wash the salt away. If you see large piles of salt, then you need to scoop up as much of it as possible and, perhaps, some of the soil under and around those piles. Then, you need to very thoroughly wash the plants and water the soil around them to flush out the salt. A small amount of salt, if well rinsed, probably won't be a big problem.

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Thursday - June 29, 2006

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