What Happens When You Add Salt to a Lima Bean Plant?

Adding salt to the soil around a growing lima bean plant is a sure way to damage or kill it. Salt draws moisture out of plant roots through osmosis, essentially burning them and preventing water uptake. The plant will wilt, yellow, and eventually die.

This is the same reason grass near roads dies back after winter—salt from de-icing trucks dissolves into the soil and reaches the roots, killing the foliage. While a tiny amount of salt naturally occurs in soil, concentrated doses are toxic to most garden plants, including beans.

If you're testing this for a school project, you'll clearly see the effects within days. It's a powerful demonstration of how sensitive plants are to soil salinity. Good luck with your experiment!