Q&A for How to Revive an Overfertilized Plant

By using too much fertilizer, you flood the soil with one particular type of nutrient. This can cause issues by making it harder for plants to absorb anything but those nutrients in the fertilizer.

Overdoing the fertilizer will cause yellowness and wilting of leaves on the lower plants as well as black and brown rotting roots. While if you under fertilize, the plant won't grow as well as it could have.

Yes, you can over-fertilize a plant. This causes damages to the roots and leaves.

Over-fertilizing will cause too much salt to build up in the grass and cause it to turn yellow or brown. This process is called fertilizer burn.

Once the fertilizer is absorbed by the plant, you can't really flush it out. I would just put it in a bright — but not hot — spot, water it and kind of go from there. See what happens, as that kind of stress can actually take a while to fully manifest. It's really a waiting game to see what symptoms become visible and then treat the symptoms

Rinse the leaves with water. Depending on how long the fertilizer has been on the leaves, your tomato plants have about a 50/50 chance of survival.

If the plant isn't too large, lay the pot on its side and gently tap it while stabilizing the plant. Continue rotating the pot and tapping until you sense that the plant is moving independently of the pot. While the pot/plant is still on its side, slide the rootball out of the pot while supporting the plant. Alternatively, using a thin-bladed knife you don't mind damaging, run it around the inside of the pot. The blade of the knife should be as long as the pot is tall. When you've circled the pot, lay the pot/plant on its side, tap the pot gently while supporting the plant to be sure it has become loosened, and gently coax the rootball out of the pot.

Take them inside with the clump of dirt they are in. Do not water them. There is a 75% chance they will die, but it's better than 100%.

The leaves will change colors, some may begin to wilt or look like they are dying (because they are).

Yes, you should.

Yes. If you have sufficient water supply, like a hose, flush the fertilizer by watering your plant. You are trying to get as much water to the roots as possible; continue to water until you think you have cleaned the root system and flushed the fertilizer away from the plant.

Dirt from outside could be carrying any parasites or diseases that any plants outside your house have, or, in some cases, have had in the past few years. It's a bit of a risky move, especially if your plant has been weakened by something like overfertilization or repotting (which you've basically done by replacing most of its soil - transplanting stress is a thing). It's always safer to use actual potting soil. If you're lucky and the dirt doesn't contain any diseases the plant can get, or mites, etc. that eat it, you'll be fine, but it's a bit of a roulette.

Nitrogen boosts foliage growth and not fruit growth, so don't use nitrogen rich fertilizer. Put your plant on strain by letting the soil dry out before watering and this will promote flower growth. There is no point in flooding the root system, as this can cause root rot. Use proper pruning techniques depending on whether your tomatoes are determinant or indeterminant.