My plants don’t look healthy
Hello, i’m new to this and i don’t know what’s happening to my plants. Some white matters are there, some look like mushrooms? I’m confused… what should i do please? They’re Dragon tree and Bonsai ficus
3
Best Answer
Hi Yara 👋 The white matter you mentioned, are you referring to what I’ve marked in blue? It looks like mineral deposit to me. Are you using regular tap water to water them? If you have hard tap water, and use it to water your plants without conditioning it, it will cause salt build up in the soil which looks like a white crust. It could also be from fertilizer depending on the type of fertilizer you use. A way to differentiate between mold and salt buildup is to observe the texture of the white stuff. If it looks and feels hard and crusty, it’s some kind of salt buildup. If it’s mushy/wet and looks fibrous/comes off, it’s mold.
@IdealGarlic31 You can, it certainly wouldn’t hurt your plants. The thing with plants is they are used to rainwater out in the wild right? Some plants can better handle the salts that are in tap water, but some can’t. It really depends on the type of plant you have. For instance, a calathea or a Venus fly trap will die a slow death if you feed them regular tap water because they absolutely can’t tolerate it. Whereas a pothos will do just fine because it has the capacity to tolerate it. Sometimes, you may notice white residue on the leaves that is also a sign of salt buildup that the plant is trying to expel through its leaves. If you do decide to treat your water, you can use those aquarium water conditioners. Distilled water or rainwater are other options. Like I said though, it really depends on the plant. If your plant is showing obvious signs of stress caused by the hardness of the water (usually through its leaves), I’d use either conditioned water, distilled water or rain water. Otherwise, it’s fine. Your soil will look ugly over time. And, the salt build up overtime is not good for the plant’s health in the long run because it hinders its ability to absorb nutrients. So, you may want to flush/rinse your soil to get rid of the buildup. You can choose any form of clean water to rectify the issue. The purer the water, the better just because that’s what they get naturally in the wild.