Correcting Iron Deficiency for Camellia
westes Zone 9b California SF Bay
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I have a soil test for a Camellia bed that suggests excessive minerals throughout the soil, but a deficiency of iron. Maybe the excess minerals have somehow impacted the iron levels. The leaves show some signs of chlorosis, so this is consistent with an iron problem. What is the best remedy for this problem?
If I use an iron chelate spray on the leaves or in the soil, doesn't this need constant re-application? How often?
If I try to use an organic product like Espoma Iron Tone, this appears to contain the other nutrients like calcium and magnesium that I already have in excess. And won't the calcium and magnesium levels already in the soil prevent the uptake of iron from the Iron Tone?
I guess this test means that I should only fertilize with a pure nitrogen (N) source and not provide P or K? What would be some good fertilizer sources to do this? Urea? Blood meal?
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westes Zone 9b California SF Bay
last monthlast modified: last monthwestes Zone 9b California SF Bay
last monthPage 2 of the soil test recommends fertilizing with high nitrogen, no P and no K.
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Comments (3)Is the yellowing prevalent in older foliage or newly emerging leaves? Did you check for mites/scale ...? What are you using for fertilizer? If you're using a soluble fertilizer at regular intervals, it's very unlikely there is a physical deficiency of Fe; more likely something pH induced or some other issue. S deficiencies in containerized plants are rare, BTW. If the plant has been in the same soil for more than a year, and your fertilizer doesn't contain Mg, it's a very real possibility that you're seeing a Mg deficiency. If you suspect a Mg deficiency, try mixing 1/2 tsp of MgSO4 (Epsom salts) in a quart of water and spritzing some of the leaves. If they green up, it was probably a Mg deficiency, but the nice thing about the MgSO4 is that it will also correct any S deficiencies. There ARE other cultural conditions that can cause deficiencies, but usually, when you start adding a little of this & that to try to correct a singular nutrient issue w/o strong indication of what's wrong, you end up creating problems rather than solving them. It's better to start from the bottom up, with a close look at your soil, then your choice of fertilizer, because in the end, your soil choice is the most probable source of trouble, if you can eliminate light as the issue. Al Here is a link that might be useful: Also, clicking me might be helpful...See MoreIron Deficiency in Lawn
Comments (6)I agree with BP and Dori. It's unusual for there to be an Fe deficiency because soil Fe is inadequate. Fe is generally deficient because high pH causes Fe to form insoluble compounds with other elements, or because other elements are found at very high levels in the soil and are creating an antagonistic deficiency (P or Mn are the prime antagonistic offenders). You can take steps to lower soil pH by adding organic matter or by using other pH lowering elements/compounds (FeSO4 is one, but be careful - it can cause an antagonistic Mn deficiency), or you can apply some form of chelated Fe with Mn, which is less affected by soil pH. What makes you think you're dealing with an Fe deficiency? Al...See MoreChelated Fe to correct Fe deficiency
Comments (3)Oh, guess I should have read this post before my response to the one above. Yes, foliar chelates are another option and the timing sounds right. But I don't deal with a lot of foliar applications for micros to be quite honest so take that opinion for what it's worth. It does look like your manganese and iron are both pretty low. Based on the other numbers I see there and taking into acount the extraction method for micros (I like dtpa for calcareous soils too, although I'd switch out the Mehlich 3 for Olsen Bray bicarbonate method for phosphorous) I'd say you would want manganese and iron at about 10 and 50 ppm, respectively. It would also be interesting to look at a foliar analysis for manganese. I wouldn't bother with iron in the tissue, unless it just comes as part of a testing package. Foliar analysis can't differentiate between Fe2+ and Fe3+. The plants will take up Fe3+ but they can only metabolize Fe2+. It's very common to see "sufficient" values returned for iron in plants that are clearly iron deficient....See Morepossible iron deficiency across the yard (bay area)
Comments (7)Adding chelated iron might help if the problem is a deficiency of iron in the soil...or if the iron present in the soil is not in a soluble form (a much more likely problem). But it's a bit more complex than that. Plant nutrition is affected by the interaction between many different ions in the soil. There may be iron in the soil that is unavailable to the plant at a given temperature or soil pH. Or the iron ions that were in the soil have found other elements to bond to and are now the anions of compounds. Excess phosphorus or aluminum can bind iron in the soil. Potassium-poor soils can lead to iron chlorosis in plants. Manganese deficiency can also look very much like Fe deficiency. For fast correction, apply a foliar iron spray directly to the leaves. As a long term remedy, composting and adding manure or other humusy bulk to the soil will help to keep the iron in a chelated state that plants can use. You might try adding a bit of Ironite to a single affected plant and see if there's a dramatic difference. If so, the iron present in your soil is probably not in a sufficiently soluble form. Also try increasing potassium and see if that fixes the problem....See Morewestes Zone 9b California SF Bay
last monthThe two things I would point out in these photos of the Camellia are how sparse the leaves are. Most of the leaf growth is at the ends. And the leaves themselves tend toward chlorotic.
westes Zone 9b California SF Bay
last monthwestes Zone 9b California SF Bay
last month
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