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Often times we cna look at the leaves of a plant to determine what nutrients are missing in the soil which the plants need. It would be nice to have a repository of images with accompanying deficiency information. Is there anywhere I can find such?

Randy
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1 Answers1

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Here is the general rule-of-thumb I use to identify nutrient deficiences in plants.

Deficiencies indicated by symptoms appearing first on older leaves

  • chlorosis starting from leaf tips, later leaves turn yellowish-brown: N
  • reddish/purple discoloration on green leaves or stalks: P
  • leaves with brown necrotic margins and/or spots: K
  • stripe chlorosis, mainly between veins, while veins remain green: Mg
  • spot necrosis: greyish-brown stripe-form spots in oats (grey-speck disease): Mn
  • dark-brown spots in oats and barley, whitish spots in rye and wheat: Mn

Deficiencies indicated by symptoms appearing first on younger leaves:

  • completely yellowish-green leaves with yellowish veins: S
  • yellow or pale yellow to white leaves with green veins: Fe
  • youngest leaf with white, withered and twisted tip: Cu
  • yellowish leaves with brownish spots and/or leaf deformed (part of acidity syndrome): Ca

enter image description here

Nitrogen Deficiency

enter image description here https://extension.udel.edu/kentagextension/2009/06/15/nitrogen-deficiency-in-corn/

enter image description here http://www.huntingtonbotanical.org/Rose/resources/diseases.htm

enter image description here http://www.mofga.org/Publications/MaineOrganicFarmerGardener/Spring2011/Nitrogen/tabid/1871/Default.aspx

Potassium Deficiency

enter image description here http://vasat.icrisat.org/crops/pigeonpea/prod_practices/Nutrient%20Deficiency/potassium.htm

enter image description here http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/database/nutdef/pic83.shtml

enter image description here http://hazerainc.com/deficiencies-in-tomatoes-crops/

Magnesium Deficiency

enter image description here http://plantdoctor.pbworks.com/w/page/17167380/Tomato

enter image description here http://enst2.umd.edu/enst411/

Sulfur Deficiency

enter image description here http://www.agroservicesinternational.com/photos/Sulfur%20deficiency%20in%20Chinese%20cabbage.html

enter image description here http://www.extension.org/pages/9862/sulfur-s#.UivZJDbBN14

Iron Deficiency

enter image description here http://www.extension.org/pages/9868/iron-fe#.UivZZjbBN14

enter image description here http://thebestgardening.com/plant-nutrition-needs-and-deficiencies/

Calcium Deficiency

enter image description here http://www.smart-fertilizer.com/articles/calcium-in-plants

enter image description here http://enst2.umd.edu/enst411/

enter image description here http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=1874

Phosphorus Deficiency

enter image description here http://msucares.com/crops/corn/corn20.html

enter image description here http://thebestgardening.com/plant-nutrition-needs-and-deficiencies/

Manganese Deficiency

enter image description here http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/database/nutdef/pic27.shtml

enter image description here http://eap.mcgill.ca/CPSO_2.htm

Manganese Toxicity

enter image description here http://hubcap.clemson.edu/~blpprt/acid2.html

enter image description here http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0103-90162010000300006

You'll notice that manganese toxicity and calcium deficiency look the same. It's because when calcium is low, ph is also low and when ph is low, manganese in the soil becomes too readily available to the plant (as well as aluminum) and produces toxicity symptoms.

Also, just because something is missing from the plant, doesn't mean it's missing from the soil. It could be tied up by ph (as iron is unavailable at high ph) or tied up by excess of some other nutrient. Periods of floods can result in short manganese toxicity problems. Droughts can result in a broad spectrum of deficiencies as roots have no soil solution from which to draw nutrients.

Randy
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