How to tell mineral or nutrient deficiency in plants and soil
strawchicago z5
7 years ago
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ann beck 8a ruralish WA
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Yellowing 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 MoreHow to tell what nutrients are missing in plants?
Comments (18)Hi Bluegirl: Thank you for joining me here in Organic Roses Forum, much appreciated. Yesterday I almost ripped my arm carrying buckets of concrete clay, thanks to my mixing peat moss (pH 4) last year with my pH 7.7 clay. Fine particles like peat moss and alfalfa meal glue-up with clay into concrete blocks. Pine fines also glued up, once decomposed. Wood chips takes longer to glue up, due to larger size. The place where I layered coarse sand with clay ... still nice and fluffy after a decade. Coarse sand is inorganic, doesn't decompose, thus stay separated from clay. University of California Extension chart below listed 1 ton of gypsum as equivalent to 5.38 ton of sulfur. It also listed 1.09 ton of Ferric Sulfate as equivalent to 5.85 ton of sulfur. I already killed 2 rhododendrons with iron sulfate ... that stuff burns root fast. See link below: http://vric.ucdavis.edu/pdf/Soil/ChangingpHinSoil.pdf If your soil is acidic, hold off the gypsum. That stuff is great for alkaline soil and water .... but there are better sources of calcium for acidic soil, like bone meal and dolomitic, see link below "Types of calcium for best bloom formation". Gypsum provides 22% calcium, 17% sulfur, with salt index of 8.1, used to de-salt sodic soil, also to neutralize bicarbonates (calcium hydroxide) in alkaline tap water. Gypsum is great in breaking up clay at the bottom of the hole. Sulfur is slow-acting, but gypsum is fast-acting ... 1 ton of gypsum is equivalent to 5.38 ton of sulfur. Gypsum is also cheap at $7 for 40 lbs. bag at the feed store, versus $6 for 1 lb. bag of sulfur. I made the mistake of dumping gypsum on top ... made the surface soil acidic, great for fungal germination. My Evelyn rose broke out in rust and black spots. Plus the scent went away, thanks to too much calcium. That's why folks put lime in bagged soil to deodorize. Too much gypsum also made Evelyn's blooms almost white. Since I already over-dosed on gypsum, I'll use sulfate of potash to neutralize my alkaline tap water. I like its effect better: shiny glossy leaves, deeper color, bigger blooms ... thanks to the potassium. Bluegirl, I am more impressed with the instant-green-up of soluble sulfate of potash (aka potassium sulfate) at 23% sulfur and 20% potassium. Sulfate of potash exists naturally, just like gypsum ... both are mined products. Below is bouquet with Evelyn rose (big pink) and Crimson Glory (red). Evelyn was fertilized with high potassium cocoa mulch NPK 3-1-4, high potassium horse manure, plus soluble gypsum & sulfate of potash. Deep purple rose is in the middle, made small by my failed experiment of dumping high phosphorus (bone meal) on top and burnt the plant .. I haven't learned my lesson after burning geraniums that hot summer with bone meal. Here is a link that might be useful: Types of calcium for best bloom formation This post was edited by Strawberryhill on Thu, Jan 16, 14 at 13:06...See MoreMineral / nutrient deficiency & secret to health & antifungal trace e
Comments (50)Moved info. from another thread as to pH preference of different roses: Take YOUNG own-roots in a nursery setting, watered with alkaline tap water (pH over 7.5). Young own-roots are wimpy, haven't secret acid yet, thus need an acidic medium like pine fines (pH 4) or peat (pH 4) & perlite to make minerals soluble in water to feed their tiny roots. Folks who grow roses in cold zone get tons of acidic rain plus snow, and need to lime roses per many inches of rain, if that rose is grafted on aggressive root-stock that secret acid. Dr. Huey-rootstock can go through rock-hard clay better than my shovel through its ability to secret acid. The pH requirement of roses change .. when they are young own-roots are like alfalfa sprouts, they can't secret acid, thus need an acidic medium. But as they get older and roots become more solid and woody, such as 3rd year on, that solid wood secrets plenty of acid. I bought an organic, very acidic SOLUBLE fertilizer, got some on my skin and it burned. I used the dose as recommended, it has acidic soy bean, kelp, and sulfate of potash .. my galllon-size own root roses love it !! Leaves became dark-green, but that acidic solution fried the leaves of 4th-year own-root Sweet Promise (with shiny & glossy and dark-green foliage). Roses grafted on multiflora rootstock, or have multiflora parentage dislike alkaline soil (become pale), thus these roses need an acidic soil to have darker leaves. In contrast, roses grafted on Dr. Huey, or have French Meilland or China parentage are healthier with higher pH. Old Garden roses were bred in the Old days, without high-pH tap water & only acidic rain at pH 5.6, thus prefer acidic soil. Modern roses are bred with alkaline-tap-water, and the most vigorous and dark-green tend to prefer such medium that they were bred, with pH over 7.5 like alkaline tap water. Intrigue hybrid tea is an example, 100% healthy in a pot, grafted on Dr. Huey, tons of buds, with alkaline tap-water pH near 9 (baking soda pH is 8.3). That was for $5 at Walmart. I didn't buy it, since I already saw Intrigue in spring time at the rose park with tons of acidic rain: it was a blackspot fest, and stingy too. But in hot & dry summer, Intrigue bloomed great with alkaline tap water at the rose park. Intrigue has dark-green leaves. Same with Perfume Delight, BS-fest with acidic rain, also dark-green leaves. To have dark-green leaves, roots must secret enough acid to get iron and manganese for dark-color .. such dark-green leaves roses secret more acid to utilize the minerals to make their leaves deep green. As the pH drops, less calcium and potassium are available, thus leaves are more susceptible to fungal diseases unless alkaline minerals is given....See Morestrawchicago z5
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