The maples at my Family's nursery were sprayed with a liquid phosphate spray earlier today. The phosphate was accidentally applied at a concentration 16 times the desired level. Other then attempting to flush it out with massive quantities of water, does anyone have ideas on how to ward off salt poisoning.
Bernie, You say sprayed--so we can assume this is foliar? You say flushing? As in flushing out the the soil or container? How much would have actually accumulated in the soil? I would think irrigating the leaves would be your only option. I also don't think that anything terribly harmful will come of it. How many plants? What is the overall purpose of the phosphate spray? regards,
"The result of phosphate overfertilizing is leaf chlorosis. Phosphorus is known to compete with iron and manganese uptake by roots, and deficiencies of these two metal micronutrients causes interveinal yellowing. It's my belief that many of the chlorotic shrubs we see in urban landscapes are suffering indirect iron (or manganese) deficiency from overapplication of phosphorus. Moreover, it has been experimentally demonstrated that high levels of phosphorus are detrimental to mycorrhizal health and lower the rate of mycorrhizal infection of root systems." http://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/~Linda Chalker-Scott/Horticultural Myths_files/Myths/Phosphate.pdf
Thanks for the help! Yes, the spray was foliar. The irrigation system is all overhead, so it would hit the leaves. It was two greenhouses that were sprayed. I read the WSU extension site in its entirety, interesting!