How to identify nutrient burn

Nutrient burn shows up first on the outermost leaf tips — they turn yellow, then tan, then brown and crispy. Often the tip curls downward and inward (the 'eagle claw' look). Severe cases progress inward along the leaf margins.

Most common causes: feeding strength too high for the plant's growth stage, accumulated salts in the medium from repeated under-flushed feeds, or a runoff EC creeping up over multiple feedings.

Recovery: flush the medium with 2–3 pot-volumes of plain pH-corrected water. Resume feeding at ~50% of the previous strength. Watch new growth — if it comes in clean and green, you've found your dose.

Prevention: start at half the manufacturer's recommended dose, increase gradually, and monitor runoff EC. Different cultivars tolerate vastly different nutrient strengths — some heavy-feeders happily eat 2.0 EC; others crisp at 1.0.