What causes yellowing and what it can mean for your garden
As a grower, the one color I dread to see in my garden is yellow! Unfortunately, determining the cause of the yellowing can be challenging. There are so many reasons why your plant may be yellowing that can leave you feeling overwhelmed, but here are some examples of why yellowing occurs.
pH range is one of the most important and common mistakes growers make in their garden. Everyone knows to check the pH in their sump before they feed their plants but a lot of us forget that checking your runoff is just as equally important. If there is a huge difference in the pH’s, it could mean there is something going on. Remember, aim for a pH between 5.5 and 6.2.
One of the key symptoms of a magnesium deficiency is yellowing of the leaves! The key thing to remember is the location of the yellowing can tell you a lot. Magnesium is a mobile element that is moved between cells in the plant. Your plant will ration its magnesium and distribute its lower than usual supply to newer growth found at the top of the plant. Thus, causing the older growth toward the bottom to yellow. If the yellowing is focused toward the outside of the leaves and exclude the veins, then you can be certain you can have magnesium deficiency on your hands.
We have all heard this before, calcium deficiencies can be fatal to your plant! Calcium is responsible for building the cell walls; weak walls= dead plants. Unlike magnesium, calcium deficiencies will cause yellowing to the new growth toward the tops of your plants. This is because calcium is an immobile element which means it does not move freely between cells, thus leaving all the leaves yellow.
Your plant needs a variety of micronutrients and iron to ensure a healthy life cycle. Iron is an important immobile element so you will notice yellowing of newer leaves just like calcium deficiencies. One key difference you will notice is that yellowing will occur in the veins of the leaf as well. Micronutrient deficiencies don’t occur often as long as you are within correct pH ranges and are using the correct nutrients.
Unfortunately once in a while you will come across things in your garden that will also cause yellowing but cannot be fixed by a simple correction of your pH or PPMs; Bugs and Diseases! Fungus, gnats, aphids, and bud rot, just to name a few. If you can be sure that you are supplying your plant with what it needs then it would be safe to assume the yellowing is due to disease or bug infestation.
Quick remedies to yellowing
After identifying the deficiency, your next move is to treat the problem. If the problem is your pH, be sure to grab your handy dandy pH reader and your choice of up/down to correct. Obviously, if you’re having nutrient deficiencies, it's time to look into what is in your water reservoir. Do you see any solids floating around in your tank? If so, you could be looking at a nutrient lockout. Fixing this is simple, mix only one nutrient in at a time and stir completely before adding the next. Last but not least, try to use our CalMag along with Basis A&B to ensure you are supplying your plant with all the secondary nutrients it needs to avoid deficiencies.
Yellowing and discoloration can be very frustrating to correct in your garden, the best advice I could give to another grower is to take your time and make sure you are adjusting your pH and nutrients accordingly, it can make all the difference.
Commentaires