Problem: Nitrogen Burn

Shown here is the Butternut Squash, which has been growing at a ferocious pace. However, you can see that the leaves do not look healthy. The curling under and yellowish spots and tips on the leaves indicate overfertilization.

Specifically, this is Nitrogen burn caused by nitrogen levels being too high in the nutrient solution. Normally I start all plants on a solution of Maxi-Grow and then switch them to Maxi-Bloom when it's time to encourage/support fruiting and flowering.

A bit of research indicates that Butternut Squash plants desire a level of Phosphorous that is higher than the level of Nitrogen in their fertilizer, and this holds true for the plant's entire development cycle.

To remedy this problem I will be switching this squash plant's nutrient solution to use Maxi-Bloom rather than Maxi-Grow as its primary nutrient. However, the plant is damaged and under a lot of stress. To help with the stress and damage already caused by the nitrogen burn I have moved this plant to a bucket that contains a nutrient flush, where it will stay for 24 hours.

The most basic nutrient flush consists of nothing but clean, fresh water that is pH-adjusted to a perfectly neutral 7.0. In addition, I have added four teaspoons of Flora-Kleen (1 tsp. per gallon) to the flush solution to help break the plant/nutrient bond and hopefully release as much of the accumulated nitrogen as possible.

Hopefully this guy will make a full recovery. More as I have it!