Learning To Understand The Language Of Plants

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

It is not always easy to determine which nutrients are lacking in the soil of vegetables or where they are in excess, and this harms the culture. Now, if only the plants growing up in the beds could speak and suggest what they lack! But in fact, they are able to signal this. You just need to learn to recognize and correctly interpret these signs

What can be read on the sheet plate?

As a rule, plant feeding in the garden and vegetable garden is done several times. Therefore, gardeners have the opportunity to correct those shortcomings that were not taken into account by them before. To determine what the pets are missing, you need to carefully monitor the condition of the leaves, buds, tops, and sometimes the roots. Everything matters - suddenly appeared spots, early necrosis, discoloration of the leaf plate, lack of flowering and falling off of the ovary.

Gardener's ABC

Let's get acquainted in more detail with those signs that indicate starvation or overfeeding of plants with various nutrients they need.

So the disadvantage:

• nitrogen - determined by the weak development of the plant. It is small in size, has few lateral shoots, and the stem is fragile. The leaves grow small and have a pale color. Old foliage grows moldy, young foliage soon turns yellow and dies early;

• phosphorus - with slow growth, the color of the leaves, on the contrary, acquires a dark green color with a bluish or red, purple tint. When dry, the leaves darken strongly, becoming almost black, fall off earlier than usual;

• potassium - determined by the light border, which frames the leaf and spreads further between the veins of the leaf plate. Following this, the foliage shrinks, the edges are bent down and curled. Dying off of tissues occurs;

• calcium - is felt more strongly on young shoots. Small leaves of a dark green color gradually lose their bright color, starting from the edge of the plate. At this time, light stripes appear between the veins. They turn into necrotic spots, while the veins remain a rich green color. Damage to the apical buds and roots is also noticeable;

• magnesium - it is better visible on older leaves and is manifested by chlorosis. This can be identified by large, yellowish-white spots. In addition, the green color of the leaves can be replaced by red, yellow, purple;

• iron - does not cause necrotic spots, as well as tissue death, however, with a lack of this element, the plant will be vulnerable to chlorosis, and the leaves become pale green and yellow;

• boron - affects the condition of leaves, apical buds and roots. They die off early, and flowering does not come. If flowering did occur, the probability of the ovary falling off is not excluded;

• sulfur - can be recognized by the pale green color of the leaves, usually does not lead to tissue death;

• copper - manifested by whitening of the tips of the leaves and a tendency to chlorosis.

Gardener trap

If you suspect a lack of nutrients, feed the plant carefully so that their excess does not lead to plant poisoning.

Overdoing it with potassium can cause pets to slow down. Another trap for the inexperienced gardener is that the symptoms of potassium starvation are similar to those of excess nitrogen, which is also characterized by leaf curling. If the plant suffers from too much nitrogen in the soil, it will produce additional brown green necrosis.

Excess magnesium affects the color and size of the leaves - they darken and shrink. Overfeeding with phosphorus is manifested by yellowing of the leaf plate, brown necrotic spots appear at the edges and ends of the foliage, and as a result the leaves fall off.