How to tell mineral or nutrient deficiency in plants and soil
strawchicago z5
6 years ago
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ann beck 8a ruralish WA
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Mineral Deficiency- Which Mineral?
Comments (3)Al, I don't think it is pests. I have been pinching aphids, and cleaning off the leaves 2x a day. I did the paper test, and found nothing. I'm using the same soil that I have my pepper plants in. I posted in an earlier thread. I am using GreenAll soil booster and perlite. about 50/50 ratio. I did not add lime. The pH was right at 7 when I tested about 2 weeks ago. I did contact our local water supply and our H2O is about 120ppm alkalinity. (calcium carbonate, I think?) so I have been putting about 1 tsp. vinegar per gallon of water into the water when I water. I also have been filling 5 gallon buckets of water a couple of days before I water to let the chlorine dissipate a little before I water. I add the vinegar and nutrients to the water when feeding the plants. I was thinking about adding lime but did not want to raise the pH. Greenman, said I could use gypsum to add calcium without raising pH. Should I quit adding vinegar? Should I get gypsum? I ordered FP 9-3-6 today, should be here Tuesday and will make the switch... I have pretty good drainage. when I water about 10% seems to be draining through the holes. It's been warmer this week, so I actually had to water again today, after 5 days. I used a little less than 1 tbsp. of MG 24-8-16, and the vinegar in a 2.5 gal. water jug. Thanks again for all your help. I have 4 plants with peppers on them, about 15 little tomatillos, and about 10 little green tomatoes, so something at least there is some good news too. Jon...See MoreYellowing leaves - over watered and/or nutrient deficient ?
Comments (2)Before adding anything, I'd wait to see if letting it dry a bit helps. Too much water isn't usually a problem in the intermountain west, but it can be if you water too much. Too much water can cause yellowing in leaves pretty quickly. On the bright side, it doesn't often take very long for things to dry out around here....See MoreNutrient deficiency or cold wet soil?
Comments (5)Recommended application rate for iron sulfate is 1/2 to 1 cup per 100 square feet, or up to 2 TB per plant. The amount you applied wouldn't have any effect. I am not sure of the iron diagnosis because the chlorotic leaves do not show green veins--as they would except in severe cases. The veins appear reddish on my monitor. Usually with N deficiency the plant is evenly pale green all over. You might want to check the pH. Residential soils can have odd spots where the contractor buried concrete, plaster, etc. Also a big rock under the plant can cause localized drainage issues. A few solid-yellow leaves at the bottom don't necessarily mean anything....See MoreLinks to identify nutrients deficiencies & cheapest fertilizer
Comments (56)Re-post the info. from the other thread: The problem with lime? Its high pH kills the soil bacteria that fixes nitrogen, so lime UNDO the effect of nitrogen-fertilizer like alfalfa. I put lime in Pink Peace's planting hole, since the soil was previously occupied by a large bush, plus I wanted to tone-down its gaudy color. The result? Calcium & other nutrients deficiency in young leaves, along with less petals and flowers that don't last long. Calcium could not be released since the pH is too high in the planting hole. Will have to dig Pink Peace AGAIN after its 3rd flush. Grafted Pink Peace gives me hell, compared to much-cleaner-own-root. I dug it up 4th of July since it black spotted on me, fixed the hole with compost & lime, it became pale & less petals after that. It's really hard to achieve balance of nutrients, so I'm better off using slow-released balanced stuff: red-lava-rock & pea gravel, compost, alfalfa hay. My GRAFTED Pink-Peace black spots be it wet or dry. Above pic, it's a calcium deficiency, since the young leaves are, "New leaves (top of plant) are distorted or irregularly shaped. Causes blossom-end rot." see link below: http://extension.arizona.edu/sites/extension.arizona.edu/files/pubs/az1106.pdf I get tons of blossom-end-rot on my cherry-tomato: the one I forgot to put gypsum in the planting hole. Gypsum is questionable on top, but great in the planting hole, since it's evenly distributed, rather than gunking on top to burn roots. Below is a good chart:...See Morestrawchicago z5
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