I've killed DS' sunflowers with kindness - what happpened?

[FrayedKnot]

DS brought home two lovely, healthy sunflower seedlings from nursery that he had been lovingly tending.

The next day I noticed one had been nibbled at so I got some rock salt and put it round the bottoms of the seedlings, not right next to them, but ina ring, iyswim.

Admittedly DS did then try to cover the salt over (he didn;t understand) and we sort of fiddled aorund with them a bit.

This morning both plants were dead

DS was gutted

Have I committed some kind of gardening murder with teh salt? I thought that was what you did to keep slugs off?

We used to kill thistles in my granny's lawn with salt.

It would have dissolved into the soil and been taken up by the roots. Grit is good to deter slugs.

Oh ...I am so stoooopid

We have planted some of our own elsewhere in the garden so I bloomin' hope those grow