I think I have salt buildup on my soil - need advice

I have my plants in smaller pots than they should be in. Because of this I have to water them every other day. They also grow in the direct hot as hell costa rica sun.

I have been giving them nutes and molasses on every feeding.

This morning I can see what appears to be salt on the surface of the soil.

Does this mean that I have given them too much nutes or is this normal?

Does this mean I should flush them? And if I do need to flush them, I just watered them yesterday and they are still really moist - is it ok to flush it now or should I wait until tomorrow when they are dryer?

Also is this nute salt buildup happening because the pots are too small or does this happen oftena nd I just need to flush and then give them a few days and then go back to my regular feeding cycle?

does molasses ever cause salts?

Is there a way to make sure what I see actually is salt buildup and not some kind of mold/mildew?

I haven't tried molasses yet, so i can't help you with that, or the fungus question. You should be able to tell if you have a microscope though, because the fungus/mold should be furry looking, and I'm pretty sure the salt will be in tiny crystal form. As for the flushing.....I'd say go ahead and do it today or tomorrow. If the soil dries out that fast, being wet for an extra day isn't going to hurt anything. What kind of fert are you using? Some contain alot of salts, so maybe that's the problem?

After the flushing, feed them the next time they need watered.

jawbrodt said:

I haven't tried molasses yet, so i can't help you with that, or the fungus question. You should be able to tell if you have a microscope though, because the fungus/mold should be furry looking, and I'm pretty sure the salt will be in tiny crystal form. As for the flushing.....I'd say go ahead and do it today or tomorrow. If the soil dries out that fast, being wet for an extra day isn't going to hurt anything. What kind of fert are you using? Some contain alot of salts, so maybe that's the problem?

After the flushing, feed them the next time they need watered.

Click to expand...

Ok thanks - will flush them later today once they have dried out a bit.

I use some costa rican brand of blooming nutes - it is 10-30-20