Sensitive plants irrigated with city water can develop fluoride toxicity that results in tip burn.
Many municipalities inject fluoride into the water to prevent tooth decay of its residents. However, plants that are irrigated with city water containing fluoride can develop fluoride toxicity (Photo 1). In addition to city water, other sources of fluoride include single superphosphates in the fertilizer and to some extent, perlite.
Photo 1: Necrosis on leaf tips from fluoride toxicity. Photo 2: Tip burn on spikes from fluoride toxicity
The symptoms of fluoride toxicity in plants are necrotic regions, especially at the tips and along margins of leaves (Photo 2). Some plants that are more susceptible to fluoride toxicity are monocots, including spider plant, lilies, spikes and dracaena. Furthermore, some of these crops also have long cropping times and therefore will be irrigated with fluorinated water by growers for months, increasing the risk of developing fluoride toxicity.
