Flowering Inducer Can Do More Harm Than Good

Two of my three hibiscus plants weren’t flowering so well or as well as I thought they should be so when I saw a packet of flowering inducer @ RM3.65 at Econsave which can be used on any type of flowering plants, I thought it could help but was I wrong! The instructions stated that 1 teaspoon was all that was needed for small pots so I did as instructed two evenings ago and this morning, I was horrified and shocked to discover the effects. One of the plants suffered the most.

Most of the leaves had dried up and turned black. The buds had all but disappeared and it looked like the plant was dying. I did a quick search on Google and found out that it’s either the wrong fertilizer or over-fertilization as flowering inducers contain salt which soak up the moisture and pulls away water from the roots (reverse osmosis) so this affects the plant’s health.

I had just subjected the plants to fertilizer burn and I would rather have fewer flowers than half-dead plants. What is the remedy then? I had to get new soil and I wasted no time in visiting the nearby nursery to buy fresh soil. The other solution as suggested by googling and the nursery owner was to keep watering, presumably to wash away the salt. I know it will take some time for my poor plants to recover but I have learned my lesson. No more trying to be clever and adding fertilizer.