How to determine which minerals a plum lacks. How to determine by external signs what tomatoes and cucumbers lack
Houseplants live in unnatural conditions: the volume of soil is limited by the pot, which means the amount of nutrients is limited.
When you replant a flower in new soil you give it enough nutrients (modern soils sold in stores usually have a fairly balanced composition, which allows you to do without fertilizing for about 2 months), but as it grows, the amount of nutrients in the soil decreases and the plant begins to starve in the literal sense of the word. A weakened plant is easy prey for pests and diseases.
Then feeding comes to the rescue.
Feeding plants almost always improves their condition. You can detect a lack of nutrients in the soil by external signs: the leaves began to turn yellow, turn white, the plant slowed down, etc.
Macronutrients for plants - breakfast, lunch and dinner
These are substances necessary for plants V large quantities, their concentration is 0.1-10%.
Nitrogen needed for the growth of shoots and leaves. If the soil lacks nitrogen, the color of the plants changes: from deep green it becomes pale, yellowish. The leaves turn yellow, become smaller and fall off, the plant sheds its buds. This is called chlorosis - not a disease, but a weakening of the plant.
Excess nitrogen leads to vigorous growth of the plant. But this is not good, because the tissues become loose, as if stuck together. a quick fix, flowering is delayed and the plant becomes susceptible to diseases. Regular liquid fertilizer almost always contains nitrogen. Look at the composition of the fertilizer and you will see the Latin letter N there. This is nitrogen. Nitrogen fertilizers are most needed at the beginning of plant growth - in the spring. By autumn, its consumption decreases, and in winter, nitrogen must be completely excluded from fertilizing.
Potassium provides tissue strength and plant immunity. If there is not enough potassium, the edges of the leaves curl downwards, become wrinkled, turn yellow or brown and die. A severe lack of potassium leads to the death of old leaves, while young leaves are preserved. Plants especially need potassium during flowering and fruiting.
Phosphorus necessary for plant health, the formation of flowers, fruits and seeds, and forms adventitious roots in cuttings. If there is little phosphorus, the growth and development of plants is delayed, they bloom late or do not bloom at all. With a lack of phosphorus, the leaves become dark green or bluish in color, red-violet spots appear on them, and drying leaves have an almost black color. Excess phosphorus causes the plant to become smaller, the lower leaves wrinkle, turn yellow and fall off. Phosphorus is especially necessary during the period of budding and flowering.
Calcium regulates water balance. Lack of calcium primarily affects young shoots and leaves: they turn pale and curl, and brown spots appear on them. However, excess calcium is much more harmful than its deficiency: it makes iron compounds unavailable to the plant, causing chlorosis.
If you notice white-brown stripes on the surface of the soil, try to change the soil completely by replanting the plant in new soil. If the plant is too big, change it upper layer soil. Otherwise, the plant may die. The quality of water for irrigation also matters: hard water contains a lot of calcium, which, unlike other elements, is introduced into the soil with each watering. Use soft water for watering.
Magnesium promotes the absorption of phosphorus by plants. A lack of magnesium leads to chlorosis: the leaves turn yellow, red, purple between the veins and along the edge of the leaf. Leaves curl and develop poorly root system, this leads to depletion of plants.
Iron participates in the formation of chlorophyll and respiration. If a plant lacks iron, the leaves turn pale green but do not die. A lack of iron leads to complete chlorosis: the entire surface of first young and then all other leaves turns pale and discolored. White leaves appear.
If there is a shortage sulfur plants are stunted, leaves turn pale.
Microelements for plants are vitamins
Plants need microelements in very small doses, their concentration is less than 0.01%.
The tips of the leaves turn white - the plant lacks copper.
The apical buds and roots die off, the plant does not bloom, the leaves turn brown and die - there is little in the soil boron.
The plant does not grow, and the leaves have become variegated - this is a drawback manganese
If there is a shortage cobalt The root system of plants develops poorly.
Light areas appeared between the veins of the leaves, the tips turned yellow, the leaves began to die - the plant didn’t have enough zinc
Flaw molybdenum leads to disruption of nitrogen metabolism, causes yellowing and spotting of leaves, and death of the growing point.
Sodium and chlorine necessary for plants from sea coasts and salt marshes. However, in cultivation these plants usually do not have increased requirements for soil salinity.
HOW TO DETERMINE WHAT A PLANT IS MISSING?
Tags: Fertilizers
I found a hint for myself. I often look and don’t know what’s wrong with my plant.
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The appearance of plants can indicate a lack of nutrients. Signs of a lack of nutrients in plants: nitrogen - pale green color of the lower leaves, the leaves are small, the stem is thin, fragile; phosphorus - dark green, bluish color of leaves, growth slows down, leaf death increases, flowering and ripening are delayed; potassium - yellowing, curling of the edges of the leaves towards the bottom; magnesium – leaf lightening, color change to yellow, red, purple; calcium – necrosis (death) of the edges of leaves, apical buds, roots; gland - uniform chlorosis between the veins, pale green, yellow color of the leaves without tissue death; boron - death of apical buds, roots, leaves, falling of ovaries.
Here are the basic rules for using fertilizers: manure is applied in the fall for potatoes, late cabbage, and cucumbers. Humus is added under early cabbage and onions; Fertilizers are applied in a crop rotation system. Organic fertilizers are not applied to root crops in the fall; manure and lime cannot be applied at the same time, as the effectiveness of the action decreases; The most effective use is their local application when sowing seeds and planting plants. In this case, the dose is reduced several times.
When applying by drip, it is important that the fertilizer does not come into contact with the seeds. First, fertilizers are applied, mixing them with the soil, then a 5-7 cm layer of soil is poured and the seeds are sown.
When planting seedlings of cabbage, tomatoes, and peppers in a hole, you should give one or two handfuls of humus and a teaspoon of nitroammophoska. Ash and nitrogen fertilizers must be applied to different time.
If the soil lacks any element, for example nitrogen, it is necessary to add not only nitrogen, but also phosphorus and potassium, but in smaller doses, since they enhance the effect of nitrogen.
Plants especially need nitrogen after heavy rainfall and cold weather.
Alternate mineral supplements with organic: mullein, bird droppings, fermented plant residues. Microfertilizers are usually used for root feeding in an amount of 3-5g. per bucket to increase plant resistance to adverse factors.
Foliar feeding is especially effective for supporting plants during the transition from cloudy to clear weather. This " ambulance» plants.
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Fertilizers. If simple mineral fertilizers consist of one nutrient element, then a complex one contains two or three main nutrient elements: nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium.
The most common are complex fertilizers, which can often be found in retail trade: nitroammofoska, nitrophoska, ammophos and nitrophos. What elements a particular complex fertilizer contains is indicated by the name itself: “nitro” or “ammo” indicate the presence of nitrogen, “phos” - phosphorus, “ka” - potassium. Ammophos contains nitrogen (ammo) and phosphorus (phos), there is no potassium. Nitrophoska contains nitrogen (nitro), phosphorus (phos), potassium (ka).
Basic complex fertilizers and their properties
Ammophos. Phosphorus-nitrogen fertilizer, contains 12% active substance nitrogen and 40-50% (depending on the variety) of the active ingredient phosphorus. It is used in the main dressing for all crops, but more often in greenhouses. If there is a significant lack of phosphorus, it can also be used in fertilizing. Dose: 20-30 g per 1 sq.m. This fertilizer is rich in phosphorus, so it is best used on soils poor in phosphorus, for example, black soil. When applying in the fall for digging up the garden, you need to add any potash fertilizer to it. Dissolves well and stores well.
Nitroammophoska. Balanced fertilizer for the garden. Available in the form of light pink granules with a diameter of 2-3 mm. It contains 17% active substance nitrogen, 17% phosphorus and 17% potassium. Apply in the fall when digging up the garden for any crop. Can be used for spring and summer feeding in small doses, preferably in dissolved form. Approximate rate for continuous application of nitroammophoska: 50-60 g per 1 sq.m of garden. Separately, 300-400 g are added to a fruit-bearing apple tree, 120-150 g to a cherry tree, 80-100 g to currants and gooseberries, 40-50 g per 1 m row of raspberries, 25-30 g to strawberries. It dissolves somewhat less well in water. than nitrogen and potassium fertilizers, but better than phosphorus fertilizers.
Nitrophoska. Contains: nitrogen – 11%, phosphorus – 10%, potassium – 11%. The main properties and applications are the same as those of nitroammophoska, but contains nutrients somewhat in smaller numbers. It is used more often in the main dressing, less often in fertilizing, due to its slow effect on plants. Apply in doses 1.5 times greater than for nitroammophoska: 70-80 g per 1 sq.m. It is well stored and, when diluted, forms a precipitate in the form of an insoluble phosphorus compound.
Nitrophos. Contains 23% active substance nitrogen and 17% active substance phosphorus. It is used for autumn application when digging up the garden, but any potash fertilizer must be added to it. Nitrophos has a good ratio of nitrogen and phosphorus. Therefore, in combination with ash or potassium sulfate, it can be successfully used for summer feeding.
Diammophos. Contains 46% available phosphoric acid and 18% nitrogen. Apply to neutral soil in the spring during the main treatment at a dose of 20-30 g per 1 sq.m. Suitable for all vegetable crops.
Potassium nitrate. Contains 46% potassium oxide and about 14% nitrogen. Apply in the spring, as it contains easily soluble nitrogen. Apply to crops that cannot tolerate chlorine.
Crystallin (solution). Fast dissolving fertilizer with different content nitrogen (from 10 to 20%), phosphorus (from 5 to 18%), potassium (from 6 to 20%). It is more advisable to use them only in fertilizing, due to the speed of action on crops. Recommended for feeding plants in protected ground.
Microfertilizers Along with basic nutrients, some elements are needed in small doses for plant development. These are trace elements - iron, manganese, zinc, copper, boron, molybdenum. They are found in very small quantities in the soil. In their absence, plants grow and develop poorly. Their shortage can be compensated for by microfertilizers, which include zinc sulfate, manganese sulfate, boric acid, copper sulfate (copper sulfate), ferrous sulfate (iron sulfate), ammonium molybdate, cobalt nitrate, potassium iodide. Sometimes these fertilizers are produced in complex form (in tablets). Adding negligible amounts of these elements to the soil immediately produces a positive effect. The salts of these elements are taken on the tip of a penknife and dissolved in a bucket of water, which is used to water garden and greenhouse plants, as with conventional fertilizers. Used for pre-sowing treatment of seeds, in the main dressing of the soil, seedling soils and in foliar and root dressings.
Basic microfertilizers
Boron-containing. With a lack of boron, the growth points of many plants die. Leaves often become scorched, mottled, pigmented, and curled. Foliar feeding of cauliflower seedlings, beet seedlings, rutabaga, fruit and berry plants. Dose: 2 g per 10 liters of water. Most effective on peat and soddy-podzolic soils.
Copper fertilizers. They are used in the form of ground pyrite (pyrite) cinders and copper sulfate. With a lack of copper, the tips of the leaves turn pale, fruit crops, the growth of apical buds stops. Pyrite cinders are added once every 5-6 years in a dose of 50 g; copper sulfate - 1 g per 1 sq.m. For foliar feeding of vegetative plants, the dose is 1 g of copper sulfate per 10 liters of water. Recommended for use on peat bogs where copper content is low.
Iron. With a lack of iron, leaves turn yellow prematurely (chlorosis), especially young ones, and shoots die. Chlorosis is most often observed in soils rich in calcium. Iron deficiency is corrected by spraying plants with a solution iron sulfate(5g per 10 liters of water). Apples, pears, plums, raspberries, potatoes, and tomatoes especially suffer from iron deficiency.
Manganese fertilizers. Manganese deficiency causes leaf chlorosis. With severe starvation, they become completely discolored and only the veins remain green. A 0.1% solution of manganese sulfate is used in the form of foliar feeding of peas, beans, beets, as well as for pre-sowing seed treatment. Used on calcareous soils.
Zinc fertilizers. Used in the form of zinc sulfate. Zinc sulfate is added to the soil at the rate of 1 g per 1 sq.m.
Let's continue our acquaintance with leaves. In the previous article, we learned how plants behave when there is a lack of basic nutrients. In this article you can learn how you can determine the deficiency of elements such as iron and magnesium by looking at the leaves. Having become familiar with the main signs of a deficiency of one or another element, you can easily correct the situation and obtain harvests on any soil.
Iron
We have seen the lack of a microelement such as iron more than once in our garden, this is yellowing or paleness upper leaves, and it's called chlorosis. Plants that require an acidic soil reaction, such as hydrangea, blueberries, rhododendrons, azaleas, and everyone’s favorite petunias, are especially susceptible to chlorosis. But other plants can also suffer from iron deficiency.
More often chlorosis occurs on calcareous soils. Iron, even if it is abundant in calcareous soil, cannot be absorbed by plants because it is in a form inaccessible to them. Chlorosis can also be caused by lack of nutrition, too dry or too wet soil, frost, various viral diseases, excess of microelements such as copper, zinc, manganese.
When chlorosis is just beginning to develop, plant leaves acquire a yellowish tint, and the network of veins remains green. With severe chlorosis, the leaves become even lighter, becoming almost white, the leaf veins also lighten (not to be confused with variegated forms of plants, whose leaves should, by definition, be yellow or white). The edges of the leaves begin to die and the tips turn brown.
Chlorosis begins to appear first on young and then on old leaves. Sometimes, with a lack of iron, young shoots or tree tops dry out. Sometimes other plant diseases can be confused with chlorosis, for example, tomato ringspot virus.
Since chlorosis most often occurs on alkaline (calcareous) soils, it is necessary to add fertilizers to the soil that acidify the soil, and thus iron becomes available and is absorbed from the soil by plants: ammonia-nitrogen - ammonium salts, nitrate nitrogen - potassium, calcium or sodium nitrate. You can acidify the soil with a weak solution of sulfuric acid (no more than 10 ml per 10 liters of water) or add it to the soil colloidal sulfur. Remember to prepare such solutions only in plastic buckets.
To correct the situation, you can also use iron chelate. Such a chelate solution can be prepared even at home; for this you need boiled water, citric acid, and iron sulfate.
Pour cooled water into a three-liter jar boiled water. Dissolve about 12 grams in this water citric acid and stir thoroughly until the acid crystals are completely dissolved, then add about 8 grams of iron sulfate to this solution. The result is a light orange “rusty” liquid that can be used to feed plants.
Magnesium
Magnesium deficiency occurs quite often on light sandy or sandy loam soils. All plants with a lack of magnesium grow very poorly.
Magnesium fasting Apple trees seem to have chlorosis (lack of iron). In the same way, the leaves begin to turn yellow, but the veins and leaf tissues next to them remain green. Then necrosis (death) begins to form from the edge of the leaf, which is why the edges of the leaf begin to bend down, as if puffed up, wrinkled, and the leaves become dome-shaped. Gradually, the edges of the leaves become torn. Only in contrast to “iron” chlorosis, magnesium starvation is observed primarily on old leaves, and not on young ones.
U stone fruits A lack of magnesium causes premature yellowing of the leaves, after which they may fall off prematurely. Pear leaves turn black due to a lack of magnesium. Black currant leaves also take on a dome-shaped shape due to the fact that the edges of the leaves begin to bend downwards.
U garden strawberries or strawberries, magnesium deficiency can also be determined by changes in leaf color. The leaf tissue between the veins may turn yellow, red, or purple, violet, while the leaf veins continue to remain green for a long time. With very severe magnesium starvation, the leaves of berry plants dry out prematurely.
In order to avoid magnesium starvation of plants on light soils, it is necessary to fertilize with fertilizers containing magnesium.
For example, kalimagnesia- a very effective potassium-magnesium fertilizer, which contains 30% potassium and 15% magnesium. The fertilizer dissolves easily in water.
Dolomite flour, which contains calcium and magnesium, so dolomite flour can be used not only for liming the soil, but also as a magnesium fertilizer, it all depends on the dose of application. If you use dolomite flour as a fertilizer, you need to apply it in spring and autumn during the main tillage in a small dose - no more than 20-30 g per square meter. m, whereas for soil liming the dose dolomite flour increases almost tenfold and depends on the acidity of the soil.
Magnesium sulfate, or magnesium sulfate (magnesium content - 16%) - this fertilizer is also effective in both root and foliar feeding.
So, we can draw a small conclusion: chlorosis (yellowing of the leaf with remaining green veins) on young leaves is caused by a lack of iron, chlorosis on old lower leaves- lack of magnesium.
Determining the imbalance of nutrients by the appearance of plants used to be something mystical for me. True, I knew about the nutrients themselves, such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, at the school curriculum level.
Honestly, I really wanted to be such a “wizard” that I could walk through the garden, look at the twigs, leaves, flowers and say what this plum or apple tree is missing, so that there would be harvests every year, and everything in the garden would smell fragrant, like in heaven corner.
But I'm not a wizard, I'm just learning. Indeed, in practice, determining exactly what element a plant lacks is sometimes very difficult, but one must strive for this, because if the plant receives balanced nutrition, then diseases will not attack it, and pests, if they attack, will harm the healthy plant less is applied than to a weakened one.
Nitrogen deficiency
Nitrogen is one of the main elements of plant nutrition. When there is a lack of nitrogen, plants stop growing. When there is an excess of nitrogen in the soil, plants, on the contrary, begin rapid growth, and all parts of the plant grow. The leaves become dark green, too large and lumpy. The tops begin to “curl”. Such plants do not bloom for a long time and do not bear fruit.
In fruit crops, the resulting fruits do not ripen for a long time, are pale in color, fall off too early, and the fruits remaining on the branches cannot be stored. Excess nitrogen also provokes the development of gray rot in berries garden strawberries, tulips. In general, try not to fertilize tulips with pure nitrogen fertilizers: only complex or phosphorus-potassium fertilizers. From nitrogen fertilizers In tulips, first the buds rot, then the above-ground part of the plant, until the bulbs are damaged.
Fertilizing with nitrogen fertilizers, either organic or mineral, should be done only in spring and early summer, when all plants are in a phase of rapid growth.
Fertilizing with nitrogen is very effective after short-term spring frosts or drop in temperature. Such fertilizing helps plants, especially early flowering ones such as weigela, to cope with stress more quickly, recover and begin to grow.
Fertilizing with nitrogen in mid- and late summer significantly reduces winter hardiness. perennial plants, and also contribute to the accumulation of nitrates in vegetables. Late nitrogen fertilizing is especially harmful for a young garden.
For example, in apple trees with an excess of nitrogen, young shoots grow at the end of summer, which are affected when night temperatures drop. powdery mildew, such apple trees may not survive the winter.
Nitrogen fertilizers: urea, ammonium nitrate, sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate, ammonium sulfate. Also on sale is a wide selection of complex mineral fertilizers, which contain phosphorus and potassium along with nitrogen. The packaging always indicates the percentage of a particular substance.
Phosphorus deficiency
Phosphorus, like nitrogen and potassium, is the main element of plant nutrition. Lack of phosphorus affects, first of all, reproductive processes: flowering and fruiting.
In the spring, with a lack of phosphorus, buds do not bloom for a long time, roots and new young shoots do not grow. Plants do not bloom for a long time, buds and flowers fall off, flowering is very sparse, fruits also fall off quickly; berries, vegetables, fruits have a sour taste.
In apple and pear trees, with a lack of phosphorus, young growth on the branches is very weak: young branches are thin, short, stop growing very quickly, the leaves at the end of these shoots have an elongated shape, they are much narrower than healthy leaves. The angle of departure of leaves on young shoots becomes smaller (they seem to be pressed against the branch), the lower old leaves become dull, bluish-green, sometimes they have a bronze tint. Gradually, the leaves become spotted: dark green and light green, rather yellowish areas appear throughout the leaf blade. Almost all of the formed ovary falls off. The rare fruits remaining on the branches also fall off early.
In stone fruit crops, such as plums, cherries, peaches, and apricots, the lack of phosphorus is more noticeable. At the beginning of summer, young leaves are dark green in color. Gradually, their veins begin to turn red: first from below, then from above. The red color covers the edges of the leaves and petioles. The edges of the leaves curl down. Apricot and peach have red dots on their leaves. Due to a lack of phosphorus, young plantings of peaches and apricots may die in the first year. In mature stone fruits, the fruits remain greenish and fall off. The pulp of even ripe fruits remains sour.
U berry crops, such as currants, gooseberries, raspberries, honeysuckle, blueberries and other shrubby or herbaceous perennial crops that give us tasty berries, with a lack of phosphorus in the spring, bud opening is delayed, very little growth is formed on the branches, and even that quickly stops growing, leaves gradually become reddish or red-violet. Dried leaves turn black. The set fruits quickly fall off, and early leaf fall is possible in the fall.
Phosphorus is added to the soil in spring or autumn when digging the soil; in summer it can be carried out foliar feeding(by leaves) with liquid fertilizers or aqueous solutions of mineral fertilizers from June to August. Flowers bloom for a long time with such fertilizing.
Fertilizers containing phosphorus: superphosphate, double superphosphate, bone meal, phosphate rock. Complex mineral fertilizers containing phosphorus: ammophos, diamophos (nitrogen + phosphorus); ammophoska, diammofoska (nitrogen + phosphorus + potassium) and many others.
Potassium deficiency
Potassium is the third main element of plant nutrition. With its deficiency, the winter hardiness of plants sharply decreases. Plants suffering from a lack of potassium experience an imbalance in water balance, which, in turn, leads to drying of the tops.
With a lack of potassium, the edges of plant leaves begin to bend upward, and a yellow rim appears along the edges of the leaf blade, which gradually dries out. The color of the leaves from the edges begins to change from bluish-green to yellow, gradually the leaves, for example, of an apple tree become gray, brown or brown, and those of a pear gradually turn black.
Thus, if potassium fertilizing is not applied in time, necrosis from the edges of the leaves spreads further to sheet plate, and the leaves dry up.
Often trees grow normally in the spring, but signs of potassium starvation begin to appear in the summer. The fruits ripen extremely unevenly, the color of the fruits is pale and “dull”. The leaves stay on the branches for a long time and do not fall off, despite autumn frosts.
In stone fruit crops, with a lack of potassium, the leaves are initially dark green, then begin to turn yellow at the edges, and when they die completely, they become brown or dark brown. In apricots and pies, you may notice wrinkling or curling of the leaves. Yellow dots of dead tissue appear on them, surrounded by a red or brown border. After some time, the leaves become holey.
In raspberries, with a lack of potassium, the leaves become wrinkled and slightly curled inward; the color of raspberry leaves appears gray due to light shade underside of raspberry leaves. Leaves with torn edges appear. A red border appears on the edges of strawberry leaves, which then turns brown.
If there is enough potassium, the crop ripens smoothly, the fruits are very tasty and rosy, the leaves fall on time in the fall, the plants are fully prepared for winter and overwinter very well.
At the first signs of potassium deficiency, you can water or spray the leaves with an aqueous solution of potassium fertilizers.
Potash fertilizers: potassium chloride, potassium sulfate (potassium sulfate), as well as complex fertilizers that contain potassium, for example: ammophoska, diammofoska.
In practice, most often there is a lack of not just one specific battery, but several at once. With a simultaneous lack of phosphorus and potassium, you cannot immediately tell from the plants that they are starving, but at the same time they grow very poorly. With a lack of nitrogen and phosphorus, the leaves become light green, become hard, and the angle between the leaf and the shoot becomes acute.
With a lack of all three main nutrients - nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium - plants not only grow poorly, but also bear fruit poorly. Fruit crops' shoots freeze in winter. Therefore, it is very important to apply complex fertilizers in order to compensate for the lack of one or another nutrient in time.
In contact with
No one doubts the fact that the soil on which our favorite plants grow needs to be cultivated, improved and fertilized. However, desire alone is not enough in this important matter; it is important to be able to notice and recognize in time the signs indicating which nutrients a tree, shrub or garden plant lacks.
The lack of one or another element has its own characteristic symptoms and manifests itself in external signs. Often the type of soil itself initially implies a certain deficiency, leading to metabolic disorders in the plant, as a result of which leaves turn yellow and fall off, shoots die, etc. Sometimes novice gardeners and gardeners mistake these symptoms for signs of various diseases, when in fact the plants do not need to be treated, but only fed with certain fertilizers.
On light sandy and sandy loam soils, plants often suffer from a lack of potassium, magnesium, sulfur, iodine and bromine. On carbonate or overly limed soils, there is a deficiency of manganese, boron and zinc. Peat soils limit the supply of copper, manganese, boron and potassium.
Interestingly, each nutrient element has its own indicator plants, which will tell you exactly what is missing in the soil or what nutrient element is present in excess. By the way, too many nutrients are also bad, because if the plants received certain mineral And organic matter in excess, they show signs of mineral poisoning.
❧ Organic fertilizers have a beneficial effect on the composition of the soil, improve its water and air permeability, and stabilize the structure. As organic fertilizers decompose in the soil, they form a layer of humus, which increases soil fertility.
How to determine the lack of fertilizers in the soil
How does nitrogen deficiency manifest itself?
The lack of nitrogen is most clearly manifested on the older lower leaves of indicator plants: strawberries, potatoes, tomatoes, apple trees. In pome crops, the leaves become smaller and narrower, losing their rich green color. Orange and red dots appear on the pale green young leaves, which soon turn yellow and fall off.
Many plants experience particular sensitivity to nitrogen deficiency in the spring. In particular, in roses there is a slow growth of shoots, flowering weakens, the wood of the stems does not ripen well, and in strawberries there is poor formation of runners. Trees with nitrogen starvation branch weakly, their shoots shorten, winter hardiness decreases, the fruits become smaller and fall off.
Young leaves of an apple tree with a lack of nitrogen do not reach normal sizes, their petioles extend from the shoot at an acute angle, in addition, a small number of fruit buds are laid. Nitrogen deficiency in stone fruits manifests itself as reddening of the bark of the branches.
Nitrogen starvation can be aggravated by increased acidity of the soil and turfing of its surface under fruit trees.
With an excess of nitrogen, the foliage becomes dark green, the plants begin to grow wildly, but the stems become soft and few flowers are produced. Excess nitrogen fertilizer leads to the development of chlorosis between the veins and along the edges of the leaves, brown necrotic spots appear on them, and the ends curl. In addition, affected crops are easily affected by fungal diseases.
How does phosphorus deficiency manifest itself?
Phosphorus deficiency is most clearly manifested on the older lower leaves of indicator plants: peaches, apple trees, strawberries, black currants and tomatoes.
The leaves of affected crops are dull, dark green in color, with a red, purple or bronze tint. Red and violet-brown stripes and spots may appear along their edges, as well as near the petioles and veins.
The stems, petioles and leaf veins also turn purple.
The leaves become smaller, become narrow, move away from the shoots at an acute angle, dry out and fall off, while the drying leaves darken, sometimes even turning black. Flowering and fruit ripening are delayed. Plants lose their decorative value.
The growth of shoots slows down, they bend and weaken, and the apical bud often dies. The root system develops poorly, and root growth is also delayed. In general, plants' winter hardiness decreases.
Symptoms of phosphorus starvation of plants are most often observed on acidic light soils with a low organic content. Moreover, mature fruit trees do not show signs of phosphorus deficiency for several years, transferring the reserves of this element accumulated in the old parts of the tree to young branches and shoots.
Excess phosphorus leads to soil salinization and manganese deficiency. In addition, the plant loses the ability to absorb iron and copper, as a result of which their metabolism is disrupted. As a result, the leaves become smaller, dull, curled and covered with growths, and the stems harden.
How does potassium deficiency manifest?
The sign of potassium deficiency is more pronounced in the middle of the growing season on the lower leaves of indicator plants: apple trees, pears, peaches, plums, strawberries, raspberries, currants, tomatoes and beets.
Symptoms of potassium deficiency first appear as leaves turning pale and becoming dull, bluish-green in color. There is uneven growth of leaf blades, they wrinkle, sometimes become curled, and their edges droop down.
The leaves turn yellow starting from the top, but the veins remain green for some time. Gradually, they turn completely yellow and acquire a reddish-violet color, for example, black currant leaves with a lack of potassium become purple with an edge burn, and then simply dry out.
The crop becomes stunted with short internodes, the shoots grow thin and weak. With a slight lack of potassium, trees sometimes develop an excessive number of small fruit buds. During the flowering period, such a plant will be completely covered with flowers, but very small fruits will develop from them. In addition, perennials and fruit trees lose their winter hardiness due to a deficiency of this element.
Young rose leaves also acquire a reddish tint, their edges become brown, and the flowers become small. This problem is often observed in roses growing on sandy and peat soils where they lack potassium. First, the lower leaves die, then the process moves to young leaves, which turn black. If no further measures are taken to save the plant, the stems will die.
Signs of potassium starvation can most clearly appear on soils with high level acidity, as well as in those areas where excess doses of calcium and magnesium were added to the soil.
Excess potassium causes a delay in the development of crops. The leaves of a plant overfed with potassium become light green in color, spots appear on them, growth slows down, and then they wither and fall off.
How does calcium deficiency manifest itself?
Calcium is necessary for plants for the normal development of the aerial parts and root growth; in nature it is found in the form of limestone, chalk and other compounds. The sign of calcium deficiency is most clearly manifested on the lower leaves, as well as at the beginning of the growing season on the young tissues of the tips of the shoots of indicator plants: cherry plum, cherry, hazel, sweet cherry, plum, apple tree, strawberry, gooseberry, currant, cucumber and cabbage.
A lack of calcium is expressed in a change in the color of young leaves, which turn white and curl upward, and sometimes take on a ragged appearance. At the same time, the stems and leaves themselves are weakened, growing points, peduncles and shoot tips may die, leaves and ovaries fall off. The shoots thicken, but plant growth and the formation of new buds generally slow down. The root system also develops poorly, as root growth is delayed. Stone fruits do not form seeds, and nuts do not form shells.
Symptoms of calcium deficiency may appear in soils with excess potassium.
If there is excess calcium, the shells of nuts and the pits of cherries and plums thicken, and the leaves may turn yellow as the plant stops absorbing iron. These signs also sometimes appear on potassium-poor soils.
How does iron deficiency manifest?
Symptoms of iron deficiency are most clearly manifested on young leaves and shoot tips of indicator plants: cherries, pears, plums, apple trees. A deficiency of this element is indicated by yellowing and partial or complete discoloration of leaves (chlorosis). However, sometimes pale leaves indicate an excess of calcium in the soil.
Yellowing of leaves on fruit trees and berry bushes starts from the edges, with young leaves suffering more than others. At the same time, a narrow green stripe still remains around the veins, but as chlorosis progresses, small veins also become discolored. Then the leaf becomes almost white or acquires a white-cream color. Then its edges die, and gradually all the tissues, and as a result the leaf falls prematurely.
In plants weakened by chlorosis, growth slows down, tree tops may dry out, fruits become smaller and the yield sharply decreases.
Very often, plants experience a lack of iron in neutral, alkaline and calcium-rich soils. This phenomenon is also observed with excessive liming of the soil, when the iron contained in it becomes bound, which can cause chlorosis.
How does magnesium deficiency manifest itself?
The symptom is most clearly manifested on older lower leaves in the middle of the growing season (especially during drought) of indicator plants: apple trees, potatoes and tomatoes. It is expressed in the development of interveinal chlorosis of leaves, the color of which resembles a herringbone.
First, discolored spots appear on old and then on young leaves in mid-summer. The leaf blades themselves become yellow, red or purple in color as dead dark red areas and dying reddish-yellow areas appear between the veins. In this case, the edges of the leaves and veins remain green for some time. Leaf fall begins ahead of schedule, from the lower part of the plant.
Sometimes, due to a lack of magnesium, a pattern similar to the symptoms of mosaic disease appears on the leaves. Often, a deficiency of this element leads to a decrease in winter hardiness and freezing of plants.
Symptoms of magnesium deficiency are most pronounced on light acidic soils. Often this problem is exacerbated by the constant application of potassium fertilizers. If, on the contrary, there are too many magnesium compounds in the soil, then plant roots do not absorb potassium well.
How does boron deficiency manifest itself?
Boron accelerates pollen germination and affects the development of ovaries, seeds and fruits. Its sufficient content in plant nutrition promotes the influx of sugars to growth points, flowers, roots and ovaries.
Signs of boron deficiency most often appear on younger parts of indicator plants: apple trees, raspberries, tomatoes, beets. These symptoms are especially pronounced during drought.
Lack of boron affects the growth point of young shoots - with prolonged boron starvation, it simply dies. Often there is a slowdown in the development of apical buds with increased growth of lateral buds.
Chlorosis of young leaves develops: light green become smaller, their edges bend upward, and the plates gradually curl. The veins of young leaves turn yellow, and later marginal and apical necrosis appears on them.
If there is a lack of boron, the growth of the entire plant is inhibited. Small areas of bark on the shoots die off, dryness is observed (the tops of the shoots die off), weak flowering and fruit set, while the latter take on an ugly shape.
The structure of the tissues of pome fruits begins to resemble a cork, the pulp of apples hardens, the heads of cauliflower become glassy, and the core of beets rots. Most often, boron starvation of plants can be observed on calcareous soils. Excessive application of boron-containing fertilizers accelerates the ripening of fruits, but their keeping quality suffers.
How does a manganese deficiency manifest?
Signs of manganese deficiency in the soil primarily appear at the base of the upper leaves of indicator plants: potatoes, cabbage and beets.
As with magnesium starvation, white, light green and red spots appear, but not on the lower, but on the upper young leaves.
Affected plants develop interveinal chlorosis - the leaves turn yellow between the veins from the edge to the center, forming tongue-shaped areas. In this case, the veins of the leaf can remain green for a long time, and a green rim forms around them. Sometimes a lack of manganese causes brown leaf spots.
❧ Application organic fertilizers increases the nutrient content in the soil, promotes the regulation of biological processes and activates the activity of soil microorganisms.
How does copper deficiency manifest itself?
Signs of copper deficiency are most clearly manifested on the young parts of indicator plants: plums, apple trees, lettuce and spinach. These signs are especially pronounced during drought.
Affected plants experience stunted growth and die apical bud, at the same time, the lateral buds awaken, resulting in rosettes of small leaves appearing on the tops of the shoots.
The tips of the leaves turn white, and their blades become variegated. Lethargic and inconspicuous, they become pale green with brown spots, but without yellowing, and the leaf veins stand out sharply against this background. Young leaves lose turgor (internal pressure of the membranes of living cells) and wither. If there is an excess of copper in the soil, then the plants begin to suffer from iron deficiency.
How does a lack of molybdenum manifest?
More often than others, there is a lack of molybdenum cauliflower, which is grown on acidic sandy (less often clay) soils. This symptom manifests itself more clearly when using physiologically acidic fertilizers. Therefore, it is better to avoid growing seedlings on excessively acidic peat.
Symptoms of starvation are manifested in the death of the growing point, the falling of buds and flowers. The leaf blades cannot develop to the end, the cauliflower head does not set, old leaves take on a color similar to chlorosis. At later stages of development, a lack of molybdenum in cauliflower causes deformation of young leaves. Sustainability early varieties to this problem is much weaker compared to late varieties.
Most often, a lack of molybdenum occurs in swampy soils, during cold or dry periods and when there is an excess of nitrogen.
How does sulfur deficiency manifest itself?
Sulfur affects redox processes in plant tissues and promotes the dissolution of mineral compounds from the soil.
With a lack of sulfur, the leaves become light green in color, and the veins on the leaves become even lighter. Then red spots of dying tissue appear on them.
How does zinc deficiency manifest itself?
Signs of zinc deficiency usually appear on old leaves (especially in spring) of indicator plants: cherries, peaches, cherries, pears, plums, apple trees, tomatoes, pumpkins and beans.
Zinc deficiency usually occurs in nitrogen-rich soils. Symptoms first appear on leaves, which become small, wrinkled, narrow and mottled due to interveinal chlorosis. Green coloring remains only along the veins. Dead areas often appear on the leaf along the edges and between the veins.
Branches with short internodes, shoots are thin, short and brittle, prone to the formation of rosettes at their tops. The small and ugly fruits are covered with a thick skin. Brown spots appear in the pulp of stone fruits.
Indicator plants growing in the garden help the gardener determine the content of certain nutrients in the soil. You just need to take a close look at the crops that grow in the garden: their appearance will tell you what exactly needs to be done to cultivate the soil.
If stinging and stinging nettles, raspberries, black elderberries or black currants grow abundantly on the site, then the soil is rich in nitrogen. Whereas the presence of dark-colored clover, gorse or roundleaf sundew indicates a deficiency of this element.
Excess calcium in the soil is indicated by the active growth of plants such as lady's slipper, sunflower or steppe aster. If there is a deficiency of it, then white grass, heathers, bifolia, bracken and dog violet grow well on it.
Based on the set of plants on the site, you can determine general state soil in terms of the presence of nutrients in it. So, if the soil contains nutrients in large quantities, then black henbane, angustifolia fireweed, reviving moonflower, obscure lungwort and bittersweet nightshade grow abundantly on it.
Those places where warty euonymus, buttercup anemone, marsh marigold, European bathwort, medium clover, strawberries, white cinquefoil, fern and drooping gum grow, differ in the average content of nutrients.
Plants such as lingonberries, heather, cultivated clover, cranberries, lichens, blueberries, small sorrel and hairy hawkweed grow on poor soils.