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salevene

Yellowing of Top Leaves - Young Plants

salevene
9 years ago

Hi all,

I've noticed yellowing of the top leaves in two of my younger plants. The rest of the plant is very healthy and so are the surrounding younger plants (all planted at the same time). I'm used to seeing this after harvests, not at this stage, so I was curious if this could be lack of nutrients or is this just normal?

Yesterday I sprayed it with some epsom salt/water mix in case it was a deficient in that area.

Thanks in advance

Comments (7)

  • seysonn
    9 years ago

    Other than nutes deficiency, it is possible that some varieties might have a different looking foliage. For example banana and gypsy peppers have pale greeon foliage where as Jalapeno, Anaheim ... have dark green leave. Some peppers also have variegated foliage.
    What variety is this plant in question ?

    Seysonn

  • daveintexas
    9 years ago

    Interveinal chlorosis (yellowing of the leaf areas between the veins, with the veins on the leaf remaining green), with the resulting "Christmas Tree" pattern, affecting the new leaves on a plant, are the classic symptoms of Iron Deficiency.

    Iron is necessary to make chlorophyll (which is what makes leaves green), and Iron deficiency is the most common nutrient issue that can cause this "Christmas Tree" effect (It is also caused by Magnesium or Zinc deficiency, but these can be distinguished from Iron, because the other two affect the OLDER leaves first, while Iron deficiency affects the NEW leaves first).

    This can also be caused by excessive amounts of certain elements in the soil, such as Potassium, Zinc, or Copper, which can inhibit the uptake of Iron by the roots.

    This can also occur in soil with a high pH (such as alkaline soil formed from limestone bedrock). In alkaline soil, iron gets chemically "locked-up", making it unavailable to the plant's roots. (Pepper plants prefer slightly acidic soil)

    Other possible causes of Iron Chlorosis include over-watering, poor drainage, excess soil temperature, soil compaction, excess salts, and root damage.

    Perhaps try foliar spay with an Iron fert. like Iron Chelates or (cheaper) Ferrous Sulfate?

  • Edymnion
    9 years ago

    Or do something that will actually help the plant and pour the fertilizer on the roots where it can actually take it up in an amount that will be beneficial.

  • tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
    9 years ago

    I agree. Foliar applications of nutrients serve best in agricultural applications where the plant is growing so fast it can't move an adequate volume of particularly identified nutrients via the nutrient stream. Even then, MOST foliar applications of nutrients are only marginally and often locally (in the plant) effective. Roots are the most efficient pathway for getting nutrients into the plant.

    Al

  • woohooman San Diego CA zone 10a
    9 years ago

    Looks overwatered and/or lacking some, like dave mentioned, iron, mag or nitrogen. If it's been raining a lot, scratch around the base to fluff up the soil which will allow it to dry out quicker.

    I'm with edymnion on fertilizing the roots. Foilar feeding is a wast imo. Just make sure you don't use too much of any one nutrient. Better to feed at half strength twice as often than to feed full strength regularly.

    Your soil looks pretty nice sal, but you should probably bite the bullet and pay a few bucks for a soil test. Contact a university down there and they should be able to point you in the right direction.

    Btw, nice to see you back on GW edymnion!

    Kevin

    This post was edited by woohooman on Tue, Dec 9, 14 at 15:05

  • salevene
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Wow, thanks all, super helpful! It is eithet a red ghost, pumpkin hab or chocolate hab. Have heard so much talk about foilar application, didn't realize it wasn't so effective. I have some weak NPK ferts as well as a fert with all the "other" nutrients (including Iron, etc.), both in tablet form. I'll give it a half tablet of each to start and see how it goes. I really don't think its too much rain, we've had some good sunny days these past weeks to offset the rain... If I were to guess, I'd say its lack of one of those nutes or any one of the reasons indicated above by daveintexas. The only thing that is really baffling me is that the other plants aren't affected.

    Kevin - you are right, I will start to look into a soil test.

  • Edymnion
    9 years ago

    woohooman - Yeah, my garden took a back seat this year, so wasn't really anything to talk about. Got big plans for this upcoming season though, so whoo!

    salevene - Foliar feeding has it's uses, but it is not some big new panacea. Basically, the only time foliar feeding is effective are in situations where the roots are too damaged to do the job, like extreme root rot. In pretty much any time where the roots are healthy, foliar feeding is just a waste of fertilizer (unless you soak it so heavily it all drips off onto the soil anyway).

    So why do you see companies like Miracle Grow selling special foliar feed? Because people are dumb enough to pay for it. They saw foliar feeding as a fad pop up, and they capitalized on it.

    Foliar feeding is an emergency last ditch attempt to keep a plant alive. Its not something that is really beneficial to a healthy plant in any way.

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