What do I do when I have accidentally watered all of my houseplants with salt water? Is there any hope in saving them?

As everyone else has suggested, the best thing to do is to leach the soil. I can be a bit more specific about this process than some, having taught indoor plant care for so long. Leaching means to run an amount of water equal to app. 5X’s the pot volume through the soil. So, for an 8″ pot, set the plant in the sink, run 3 qts water through it, let the dripping stop, then do that 4 more times. Of course, for a really big plant, you’ll want to move it outdoors.

I like Kim’s suggestion of putting some gypsum on top of the soil. I don’t think cleaning the soil out of the roots and then repotting with fresh media is a good idea because that damages the root hairs so much, and the plant has already been stressed by the salt.

I don’t think you need to refrain from leaching soil of succulents because the succulents aren’t bothered by alot of water running by the roots; they’re damaged by the soil staying too wet for too long - not letting the soil dry before more water is added.

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