Can't flush away the salt!

[orchidaddict789]

The lava rock from my den plant has a thin white crust of fertilizer salts, but when I try to flush with plain water, the buildup won't go away. It's like I can't flush the bad stuff out of the pot. I'm afraid the fertilizer salts will accumulate and burn the roots...even though the plant looks okay now. Any ideas?

[Diane]

Have you tried soaking it in RO or distilled water. Sit it in a container with the water just covering the rocks. Leave for 30 mins and then drain. If that doesn't work you can either replace the rocks, or unpot the plant and soak the rocks overnight in clean RO or distilled water. Then repot.

[WolfinKW]

Not sure but could you use slightly warm water... this might help the disolving of the mineral buildup.

[bench72]

Ditto Wolf... what i do is water with warm water... leave for half an hour and then water again... oh hold on, you're talking semi-hydro... hmm might still work...

[Jmoney]

you can prevent this to some degree by "flushing" the pots once a month. water thoroughly, wait an hour, and water again.