Plants need 13 nutrients that they absorb through roots from the soil. Nutrient deficiencies and toxicities lead to unhealthy plants. It can be tricky to identify what nutrient the plant is missing. So, today you will find out how to identify and treat plant nutrient deficiencies.
What nutrients do plants get from soil?
Plants get 13 essential nutrients from the soil for the growth. The essential nutrients include macronutrients that plants get from the soil in large quantities. Also, plants need micronutrients, so the small amounts are required.
Macronutrients:
- Nitrogen
- Potassium
- Phosphorus
- Calcium
- Sulfur
- Magnesium
Micronutrients:
- Boron
- Copper
- Iron
- Chloride
- Manganese
- Molybdenum
- Zinc
Symptoms of nitrogen deficiency in plants
The symptoms of nitrogen deficiency in plants include the tips and center vein of leaves turning yellow. One of the significant signs of nitrogen deficiency is that older lower leaves are turning yellow and shrivel while young top foliage remains light green.
However, the yellowing can move up during the vegetative stage and younger plants are often stunted. Nitrogen plays an important role in growth of leaves and stem of the plant especially during the vegetative stage. So, nitrogen deficiency leads to the yellowing and thinning of the stem.
How to treat nitrogen deficiency in plants?
To treat nitrogen deficiency in plants you can use organic fertilizers high in nitrogen like sulphate of ammonia. When choosing liquid plant foods pay attention to the dilution rate as any alterations can harm your plants.
A natural source of nitrogen for plants is organic compost like manure or coffee grounds. Mulching soil with chicken manure or rotten garden compost boosts nitrogen levels in the soil, maintains soil moisture levels and reduces leaching.
Symptoms of potassium deficiency in plants
The most notable symptoms of potassium deficiency in plants are browning, drying and curling of the tips and edges of the recently matured leaves. Also, older leaves can turn reddish and curl upward if a plant doesn’t get enough potassium.
Yellowing between the leaf veins known as interveinal chlorosis is present along with the stems and branches becoming weak and easy to break.
How to treat potassium deficiency in plants?
To treat potassium deficiency in plants use compost with banana peels or vegetables waste. You can also put citrus zest at the base of the plant in the soil.
When treating potassium deficiency ensure that you are not using hard water which is high in minerals. You can use fertilizers to correct potassium deficiency containing potassium nitrate, potassium sulfate or monopotassium phosphate.
Why do leaves turn purple?
If the plant is dark bluish green with the leaves and stems turning purple it is a symptom of phosphorus deficiency. It is very prominent in marigold and tomato plants that the lack of phosphorus leads to the leaves turning purple.
Sings of phosphorus deficiency also include drying out of leaf tips and older leaves can turn black. The plant become stunt during the early growing stage.
How to give phosphorus to plants?
To give phosphorus to plants add bone meal to the soil. Also, manure, soy husks and rock phosphate are natural organic sources of phosphorus for plants. In addition, you can use greensand to treat phosphorus deficiency.
You can use phosphate fertilizers to increase the levels of phosphorus in the soil. Remember that phosphorus can only be absorbed by plants when soil pH is between 6 and 7.
Symptoms of calcium deficiency in plants
The most common symptoms of calcium deficiency in plants are misshaping, mottling and stunting of leaves. Generally new leaves are hook-shaped.
Most of the time lack of calcium in plants is caused not because there are low levels of calcium in the soil but due to the calcium being less water soluble.
It is a result of the too acidic pH (below 6) so the plants can’t absorb calcium from the nutrient solution properly. Lack of calcium in the plant leads to blossom end rot which is a sing of calcium deficiency.
How to increase calcium in plants?
Test soil pH, if it is acid, add some agricultural lime to raise it. Calcium deficiency is rarely caused by the lack of calcium in the soil. Thus, add some organic matter to boost soil’s moisture-retaining capacity.
In some cases you can spray calcium chloride on the leaves to increase calcium in plants. Also, some gardeners suggest to add calcium nitrate, calcium chelates or gypsum to the soil. Natural organic sources of calcium for plants include limestone, dolomite, shell or marl.
What is the role of sulfur in plants?
Sulfur plays an important role in building organic molecules in plants. Sulfur in plants aids formation of the enzymes and helps to form plant proteins. It also protects plants from stress and pests.
So, sulfur deficiency can lead to these symptoms: yellowing of new growth whilst old leaves remain green. Young leaves are stunt. The development of sulfur deficient plant is affected and the color of the plant varies from yellow to pale green.
Plants only require sulfur in a form of sulfate sulfur. So, all sulfur sources have to be in the sulfate form or can be converted to the sulfate form before adding it to the soil.
How to treat sulfur deficiency in plants?
Use organic composted mushroom fertilizers or add gypsum, manure, ammonium sulfate, thiosulfate, elemental sulfur to treat sulfur deficiency in plants.
Epsom salt which is magnesium sulphate is a good treatment for sulfur deficiency in plants. However, as it contains magnesium it is not recommended to use it when soil is high in this mineral.
What are the symptoms of magnesium deficiency in plants?
When plant is deficient in magnesium older leaves, usually the lowest on the stem, look yellow or pale green between the leaf veins and the veins remain dark green. As a result, a sing of magnesium deficiency in plants is interveinal chlorosis and marble appearance of the leaves.
How to treat magnesium deficiency in plants?
To treat magnesium deficiency in plants add a solution of Epsom salt – 4 oz per gallon of water or 25 g per liter of water or crushed dolomitic limestone. Use compost munch to prevent magnesium leaching from the soil especially during heavy rains.
Keep in mind that pH of the magnesium fertilizer solution should be in a range of 6-6.5 for the plant to take up magnesium. Also, plants should have adequate levels of calcium to absorb and utilize magnesium.
What causes boron deficiency in plants?
Boron plays a vital role in transporting sugars within the plant. It affects the rate of transportation and helps to deliver sugars to the growing parts of the plant including fruits that are in development. Also, boron is required in providing sugars to the roots.
Boron is immobile element which means that it does not relocate to the different parts of the plant. Once taken up by the plant it attaches to the different structures and cannot be removed to travel to other parts of the plant. As a consequence, new leaves show the signs and symptoms of boron deficiency.
The most common symptoms of boron deficiency in plants are rapid increase in branches as well as distorted, breakable and thick new growth. A sign of boron deficient plant is mottled chlorosis in other words it is when yellowing of the leaf is scattered.
How to treat boron deficiency in plants?
To treat boron deficiency in plants you can use boric acid, borax or Solubor as dry fertilizer and add it to the soil or dissolve it in water and spray directly on the foliage.
What copper does to plants?
Copper does help with the carbohydrates, proteins and nitrogen metabolism in plants. Copper is also responsible for the activation of enzymes required in lignin synthesis. Apart from that copper is involved in photosynthesis and plant respiration process.
What are the symptoms of copper deficiency in plants?
Copper is an important nutrient for the plant’s growth, so the deficiency of copper leads to the stunted growth. Lack of copper affects lignin synthesis which is essential to strengthen cell wall, as a result, plants start to wilt, leaves become limp, curl or drop.
Moreover, symptoms of copper deficiency include dying of the young shoots starting at the tips of the stems and twigs, leaves turn pale green or yellow and wilt easily.
How to add copper to plants?
To treat copper deficiency in plants you need to test soil pH first and then raise soil’s pH to increase the absorption of copper. Also, higher amounts of phosphorus and iron in the soil affect the intake of copper so lower them to increase copper absorption by plants.
You can either add fertilizer containing copper, cupric or cuprous compounds under the soil or sprinkle it on top of the soil.
Iron deficiency in plants
Iron deficiency is probably the most common deficiency in plants which is easy to resolve. To find more information on the causes, symptoms and treatment of iron deficiency in plants click here.
Interveinal chlorosis is a significant symptom of iron deficiency in plants. As you can see from the picture, the veins remain green and the space between veins turns yellow.
Do plants need chlorine?
Plants need chlorine in a form of chloride (Cl-) anion. Chloride is present in a soil as a product of salts and is a mobile anion meaning that it can move in the plant.
Plants need chloride as it plays a key role in stomatal regulation, it regulates stomatal opening to control the release of water from the plant during droughts. Chloride also helps to transport the nutrients like calcium, magnesium and potassium in a plant.
Chloride deficiency is common in cereals crops and symptoms include restricted and highly branched root system resulting in the wilting of the plant. Another sign of the chloride deficient plant is tiny white spots on the edges of the leaf.
How to treat chloride deficiency in plants?
Chloride deficiency is commonly associated with sandy soils and areas with heavy rainfall. To treat chlorine deficiency in plants use fertilizer with KCl and it should be sufficient.
Manganese deficiency in plants
Manganese is an important micronutrient which contributes to the overall health of the plant. It is required in photosynthesis and helps to form other compounds for metabolism in plants.
Is it easy to confuse manganese deficiency with iron deficiency because in both cases you can observe interveinal chlorosis, so the younger leaves turn yellow particularly between veins. Other signs and symptoms of manganese deficient plant include stunted plant growth, shoots and fruits are small in size or the plant fails to bloom at all.
If you noticed dark brown dead (necrotic) spots on leaves, for example, on leaves of cereal crops the spots are white or gray, you are most likely dealing with severe manganese deficiency.
Manganese deficiency is often caused in poorly drained soils, sandy soils where levels of organic matter are low or in organic soils where levels of organic matter are high as well as in soils with high pH. Later affects plant’s ability to absorb manganese from the soil resulting in manganese deficiency.
To treat manganese deficiency in plants check pH of the soil first. If it is high, apply some ammonium sulfate to lower the pH. Then, add chelated manganese fertilizers like Sequestrene to the soil around the plant roots.
Role of molybdenum in plants
Molybdenum plays an important role in enzyme systems of the plant including nitrogen fixation, protein synthesis as well as metabolism of sulfur and nitrogen.
Molybdenum is found in alkaline soil (high pH) so the plants growing on acid, sandy soils in humid regions can become molybdenum deficient. It is a mobile nutrient and plants uptake it in a form of molybdate.
The symptoms of molybdenum deficiency include yellowing of older leaves while the remaining leaves turn light green. A characteristic symptom of molybdenum deficient plant is a formation of misshaped leaf blades known as whiptails.
To fix molybdenum deficiency you can either lime the soil to allow plants to take up molybdenum from the soil or apply a solution of sodium molybdate, ammonium molybdate, molybdic acid, molybdenum trioxide or molybdenum sulfide to the leaves of the plant.
How does zinc affect plant growth?
Lack of zinc leads to the stunted plant growth because zinc is a vital element for energy production, protein synthesis and growth regulation. Zinc takes part in chlorophyll production and stem development.
What are the symptoms of zinc deficiency in plants?
Symptoms of zinc deficiency in plants:
- Chlorosis of the young leaves;
- Characteristic yellow bands on the leaves;
- Terminal leaves can develop rosettes;
- Short internodes;
- Leaves diminish in size;
- Young leaves start growing closely together in bunches;
Low as well as high pH levels make it impossible for the plants to take up zinc from the soil. As zinc is immobile nutrient, the young foliage shows the signs of zinc deficiency first.
How to add zinc to soil?
Use zinc sulfate fertilizer which has up to 36% of zinc to the soil, in addition, you can spray leaves with kelp extract and add bone meal to raise soil’s pH. It also adds more calcium to the soil which aids in zinc absorption.
