Organic, permaculture, and Biodynamics

This is an Experimental page for links about gardening. I am mostly interested in weed and plant identification at the meantime. By learning to recognize certain diseases in plants, you can learn to spot what your soil is lacking. This page will mostly exist for links for references.

Spotting Iron Deficiency in Plants:
  •  http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/environmental/leaf-chlorosis-and-iron.htm
  • Summery:
    The basis for this article is spotting, preventing, and curing Leaf Chlorosis. Leaf Chlorosis is identified by yellow leaves with green veins. This is the most obvious symptom in plants, other being poor growth and leaf loss, but these are often coupled with chlorosis. According to the article, the cause is usually not low iron in the soil, rather the soil is keeping the plant from absorbing the iron it needs.
    There are four outline causes of poor iron consumption.
    1. High pH
    2. Too much clay in the soil
    3. Compacted or soil is too wet
    4. Too much phosphorus
    It provides links to fix these problems in the description. Clay in the soil is usually characterized by a lack of organic matter in the soil. Here in Pennsylvania, nettles growing as a weed may indicate compacted soil. Overly wet soil may be soil with too much organic matter and not enough silica or it may be a really wet summer. The article mentions phosphorus blocks iron uptake, but it only says that you should use a fertizler with less phosphorus. I'll take the moment to mention that phosphorus is mostly non-soluble, and by focusing on increasing microbials and mycorrhizal fungi in the rhizosphere, you have a chance to help break down and get the phosphorus needed.

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