Iron chlorosis is a common plant disease. It is characterized by a violation of the formation of chlorophyll in the leaves. The leaf blade turns yellow, but the veins remain green. Almost everyone who gardens experiences this disease. What is chlorosis in plants, how to treat this disease?
The cause of iron chlorosis is a severe lack of iron, which may be insufficient in the soil. In addition, changes may occur in the plant itself, leading to a loss of the ability to absorb iron. To eliminate the disease, you should eliminate the mistakes made in the agricultural technology of growing the plant and feed it with iron.
Chlorosis disease - description
The characteristic signs of this disease are:
- premature yellowing of young leaves, although their veins remain green;
- manifestation of small leaves: new leaves grow smaller;
- curling the edges of the sheet plate;
- falling leaves and flowers;
- drying of the tips of the shoots;
- changing the shape of buds and flowers;
- deterioration of the condition of the root system, and in advanced cases even death of the roots.
There may be several reasons for the appearance of chlorosis. There is infectious chlorosis caused by fungi, viruses and other microorganisms. Its carriers are pests. Functional or non-infectious plant chlorosis can occur due to violations of crop cultivation technology, as well as as a result of unfavorable climatic or soil conditions. Such, for example, as a deficiency in the soil of iron, magnesium, zinc, sulfur, lime, nitrogen, proteins or the level of soil acidity, at which the roots are not able to absorb the minerals they need. Non-infectious chlorosis can also be caused by poor soil drainage, which causes the plant's roots to become wet, as well as root damage, crowding of the root system, or exposure to sulfur dioxide.
Chlorosis can occur as a mutation and be inherited, which is often used to breed variegated forms of ornamental plants.
- Rust: treatment and prevention, control measures
Preventive actions
But there are also several preventive measures that can simply prevent the development of chlorosis. The most important thing is that the gardener must be able to correctly determine the soil composition, and only in this case will he understand which components should be added, and which components are already sufficient. The most important thing is to apply only those fertilizers that are really in short supply, otherwise an imbalance can only aggravate the situation, and the tree will not take root in the soil composition at all. In order to protect the apple tree in carbonate soils, as well as in those soils where the percentage of lime is very high, it is necessary to treat the soil using a method such as gypsum. Experienced gardeners advise applying gypsum in early spring, and the tree trunk circles must be carefully dug up so that the gypsum is evenly distributed. If the soil is too acidic, it should be limed, and for this you use either garden lime or dolomite flour. Both components will help the soil become more balanced, reduce acidity to a neutral level, which will have a great effect on the growth and development of the apple tree and, accordingly, on the condition of the future harvest. In general, only with a competent and professional approach can negative manifestations from plants be avoided, so a lot depends on the gardener, on whether he wants to learn and make the tree’s life better.
Apple tree chlorosis
Treatment of chlorosis
Measures to combat chlorosis
When treating non-infectious chlorosis, the missing elements are introduced into the area located in close proximity to the roots of the plant. Foliar feeding is also used, that is, spraying diseased specimens with microfertilizer solutions on the leaves or introducing them into trunks and branches using an injection. How to treat chlorosis? If there is a lack of iron in the soil, the plant is treated with Ferovit, Ferrylene, Micro-Fe or Iron Chelate. If the soil lacks magnesium, dolomite flour, magnesium sulfate and Mag-Bor will help correct the situation. For sulfur chlorosis, Kalimagnesia, Azofoska with sulfur, potassium sulfate and Diammofoska with sulfur are used - as you can see, these drugs include not only sulfur, but also nitrogen, phosphorus, magnesium and sodium (we warn you that nitrogen-containing fertilizers cannot be applied during the flowering period) . The lack of zinc in the soil can be eliminated by adding zinc sulfate, zinc oxide and superphosphate with zinc, and adding crushed eggshells, wood ash, and slaked lime to the soil will help eliminate calcium chlorosis of the plant. You should know that nitrate nitrogen increases the flow of calcium into plant tissues, while ammonia nitrogen reduces it.
Infectious chlorosis is incurable , that is, there is no cure for it, so the diseased specimen will have to be destroyed as soon as possible, before the bacteria spread to neighboring plants.
Chlorosis disease - prevention
To prevent chlorosis, mineral and organic fertilizers are used. If you don’t know which element is missing in the soil, you can use complex fertilizers containing all the necessary substances: Kemira Lux, Florist Micro, Uniflor Micro and others.
To prevent plants from getting sick with viral chlorosis, you need to disinfect garden tools with boiling or industrial alcohol before and after using them, disinfect the soil before sowing or planting, as well as planting and seeding material with fungicide solutions. And, of course, constant pest control is necessary.
Prevention
To avoid disease, it is necessary to select mineral fertilizers correctly. It is best to use products that are acidic (potassium sulfate, ammonium sulfate and superphosphate).
It is recommended to use compost or peat as organic fertilizers.
The development of an infectious type of disease can be prevented by disinfecting the soil, tools and seed material.
For this purpose, fungicides are used, which are applied even before the start of the planting season. Tools used for soil treatment must be wiped with alcohol.
Plant chlorosis
Tomato chlorosis
If tomatoes grow and develop too slowly, and their leaves turn yellow, curl and fall off, the thought immediately comes to mind that the tomatoes lack moisture, but these may be the first signs of non-infectious chlorosis. You can determine which element your plants are lacking from the following symptoms:
- with a lack of NITROGEN, the growth of the bushes is limited, the shoots quickly become lignified, the old leaves first lighten, then turn yellow, the fruits ripen quickly, but they are much smaller than usual;
- if tomatoes lack PHOSPHORUS, the growth of the bushes also slows down, the main shoot becomes thinner, the leaves form small, with a purple tint and with curved edges. Then necrosis of the leaf plate occurs, and the leaves fall off;
- due to a lack of POTASSIUM, the edges of old leaves look like they are burnt, then the leaves turn completely yellow and fall off, followed by chlorosis affecting younger leaves. Brown-black stripes appear inside the fruit;
- deficiency in the soil of CALCIUM first manifests itself on the upper leaves: they turn yellow, young leaves are deformed, and pinpoint necrotic areas appear on them, which gradually merge. Fruits are affected by blossom end rot;
- with a lack of COPPER, and this usually happens when growing tomatoes on peaty soils, old leaves turn white, new leaves grow small, shoots weaken, underdeveloped flowers crumble;
- BORA deficiency can cause the death of growing points and the formation of a large number of shoots, which leads to abnormal bushiness of tomatoes. Dry areas form on the fruits;
- from a lack of MAGNESIUM, yellow-green spots appear on old leaves, which gradually turn gray and then turn brown. The leaves dry out and fall off, the stalks dry out, the fruits become smaller and ripen prematurely.
To cure tomato chlorosis, you need to determine what element they are missing and add it to the soil or treat the tomatoes leaf-by-leaf with a solution containing the necessary element.
How to deal with tomato diseases
If chlorosis is of viral origin, immediately remove the affected bushes, burn them, and spill the area where they grew with a solution of fungicide or potassium permanganate.
Chlorosis of cucumbers
Chlorosis of cucumber leaves is manifested by yellowing of the veins and edges of the leaf blade, and this does not necessarily arise from a lack of iron in the soil. It is difficult to determine the cause on your own, and even more difficult to get rid of it, especially since this can take a lot of time. But the harvest will not wait. Therefore, it is easier to prevent chlorosis. How to do it? Two weeks before sowing or planting seedlings, you need to add vegetable humus to the soil: firstly, it contains all the nutrients that cucumbers need, secondly, humus will transform into a soluble form all the elements necessary for the plant, thirdly, into humus, unlike mineral fertilizers, there is nothing that could harm cucumbers. Compost is added in large quantities to the soil to a depth of 5-7 cm, after which the bed is watered, allowed to settle for several days, and then cucumbers are planted.
Treatment of chlorosis of fruit and berry crops
Grape chlorosis
Chlorosis on grapes is called pale sickness: as a result of the development of the disease, the plant's ability to produce photosynthesis is reduced, growth slows down and yields drop sharply. The cause of non-infectious chlorosis may be primarily the alkaline reaction of the soil, due to which the roots of the plant are not able to absorb iron, although, in addition to carbonate chlorosis, zinc, magnesium, copper, sulfur or manganese chlorosis can develop on grapes. The development of the disease is promoted by the accumulation of hydrogen sulfide in the soil, which often happens on impermeable heavy soils, especially in rainy and cold weather.
The infectious form of chlorosis (otherwise called yellow mosaic) is caused by parasitic nematode worms, but this incurable disease on grapes is not very common.
Signs of chlorosis of leaves on grapes are spots of various shades of yellow located between the veins - from lemon to cream. Old leaves become discolored, young ones become acrid yellow and stop developing, leaves gradually dry out and fall off, internodes on new shoots develop shortened, berries in clusters become small, and in general the winter hardiness of the bush decreases. Symptoms of chlorosis on grapes are especially noticeable in spring and late summer . To make sure that you are dealing with non-infectious chlorosis, apply a grid or other pattern with iron chelate to a bleached leaf blade, and after a day it will appear bright green on the pale leaf.
Non-infectious grape chlorosis is treated with a whole range of measures. As a preventive measure, it is recommended to grow grape varieties resistant to pale sickness, which include, for example: Muscatel, Cabernet, Saint Laurent, Elbing, Pinot Meunier, Trollinger, Riesling, Traminer, Pinot Noir, Limberger and others. The most unstable variety to chlorosis is the Silvaner variety. In general, European grape varieties are more resistant to the disease than American ones. If you want to significantly reduce the likelihood of chlorosis affecting your vineyard, sow clover, alfalfa or green manure grasses around the bushes, which improve the chemical composition of the soil.
If, despite the preventive measures taken, the disease still manifests itself, iron sulfate against chlorosis as a top dressing and spraying the grapes with iron salts on the leaves will help restore photosynthesis, but will not completely solve the problem. In addition to weekly spraying, it is necessary to increase ventilation and drainage of the soil: dig up the soil between the rows and cover it with mulch. Eliminate soil alkalinity with iron sulfate and potassium sulfate. Calcareous chlorosis is treated with preparations that contain iron in chelated form, ammonium sulfate is added to the soil, and the bushes are sprayed with a solution of sulfuric acid. In the spring, half a kilogram of iron sulfate is added to each bush. And do not forget about potassium-phosphorus fertilizing and foliar treatment of bushes with microelements - manganese, zinc and other substances necessary for the plant.
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If your grapes are affected by yellow mosaic, then the diseased bushes need to be dug up and destroyed as soon as possible, since the yield from them is minimal, and the risk of infecting neighboring plants with the virus is very high. As a preventive measure, treat the soil and grapes with iron sulfate during the flowering period.
Raspberry chlorosis
Raspberry chlorosis can also be infectious and physiological, caused by a lack of elements or a soil condition in which the roots cannot absorb even those substances that are present in it. The development of a non-parasitic form can be provoked, for example, by watering the raspberry tree with cold water.
The signs of chlorosis on raspberries are the same as on other crops: light or yellow spots appear on the leaves, which, increasing in size, cover the entire leaf blade and move to the shoots of the plant. Bushes affected by viral chlorosis are immediately destroyed. To prevent the virus from appearing in your raspberry garden, you should take preventive measures: plant healthy and disease-resistant planting material, regularly weed and loosen the rows, add fertilizer to the soil, drain damp areas and promptly treat the raspberry garden against sucking insects that carry the viral infection. Before buds open, raspberry bushes are sprayed against aphids with a three percent solution of Nitrafen, and before flowering and no less than 45 days before harvesting - with a solution of Methylmercaptophos, prepared in accordance with the instructions.
Raspberry diseases and pests and their control
Treatment of raspberry chlorosis of a physiological nature is carried out by establishing its cause: if the cause is too high humidity, reduce watering of the raspberries, and if alkalization occurs, then gypsum is added to the soil at the rate of 100-120 g per m². Raspberries are watered with water heated in the sun, and fertilizers for chlorosis are mainly nitrogen-containing. It is better to completely abandon fresh manure as a fertilizer; potash fertilizers should be applied in a minimal dosage. An effective measure against non-infectious raspberry chlorosis is to add forest litter, humus, compost or peat to the soil, as well as watering the raspberry tree with a solution of bird droppings, for which 1 part of the droppings is dissolved in 10-12 parts of water.
Strawberry chlorosis
Garden chlorosis appears on strawberries for the same reasons and manifests itself in the same way as on raspberries. To prevent and treat non-infectious chlorosis caused by iron deficiency, strawberries are treated with organic living farming preparations: Chelatin or Ferovit. The approximate consumption of the drug is 12 ml per bucket of water. You need to water the bushes at the root. The leaves of the strawberries are treated with a solution of iron sulfate. Watering and treatment with iron-containing preparations begin as soon as symptoms of chlorosis are detected.
Strawberry pests and diseases and their treatment
Most often, chlorosis appears after liming the soil, especially if you added too much. Or if the soil contains a large amount of copper, which is an iron antagonist. To make sure that the cause of chlorosis is a lack of iron, draw a number or letter on a yellowed leaf with Iron Chelate, and if the diagnosis is correct, after a day the drawing will appear bright green.
It is pointless and even harmful to treat infectious chlorosis: you will waste your time, and the virus can easily spread to neighboring plants during these days. The main symptom of viral yellow mosaic, in addition to yellowing of leaves and shoots, is the formation of too short internodes. When new leaves and shoots begin to appear without signs of yellowing, you may think that the disease has left your plants, but do not be fooled by it: there is no recovery from viral chlorosis.
Apple tree chlorosis
Symptoms of chlorosis of trees are almost no different from chlorosis of fruit and berry or garden plants: the same pale or yellow spots on the leaves, despite the fact that the veins on the leaf blades remain green, then the tips of the leaves begin to die. As in the case of other plants, the cause of non-infectious chlorosis of apple trees is most often a lack of iron in the soil or a soil condition in which the roots of the tree cannot absorb this element. However, in order not to make a mistake, it is better to check the list of signs:
- if the leaves turn yellow from the top of the shoots, this is indeed due to iron deficiency. In this case, the apple tree is sprayed on the leaves in two or three doses with an interval of 10-12 days with iron chelate or the preparations Ferovit, Agrekol and Brexil, and the soil composition is improved with iron sulfate: the tree trunk is watered with a solution of 100 g of vitriol in a bucket of water. In case of severe starvation, you can inject the trunks with iron sulfate by drilling small holes in them, pouring medicine into the holes and sealing the holes with cement;
- if faded leaves appear at the bottom of the branches, then the cause of chlorosis is nitrogen deficiency. Nitrogen-containing fertilizers will help solve the problem, and best of all organic ones, for example, mullein solution: 5 kg of rotted cow manure is added to the trunk circle of the apple tree;
- yellowing of the leaves of young apple trees in the middle part of the shoots occurs due to a lack of potassium. The problem can be eliminated by adding potassium sulfate to the tree trunk circle at the rate of 25 g of fertilizer per 1 m²;
- obvious yellowing of the plate between the green veins and the presence of a necrotic border and dark spots on the leaves is a symptom of a lack of manganese and magnesium. It is necessary to add dolomite flour and wood ash under the apple tree, and treat the leaves with a solution of manganese sulfate (0.05%) and magnesium sulfate (150 g per bucket of water);
- general yellowing of the apple tree crown indicates a lack of sulfur and oxygen in the roots of the tree. The lack of sulfur is compensated for by adding gypsum, ammonium sulfate, magnesium or potassium, Ammofoska, manure or humus to the soil. As for poor root aeration, frequent loosening of the soil in the tree trunk circle and mulching the surface around the tree with organic material can help.
The cause of chlorosis is obvious only at the initial stage of development of the disease , and when the disease spreads throughout the tree, it will be very difficult to determine the cause of chlorosis.
Apple tree diseases and pests and their control
Viral chlorosis on trees can take the form of mosaic or chlorotic ringspot, two diseases caused by different pathogens. With mosaic, chloroticity appears not only on the leaves, but also on the shoots and fruits, and it looks like clearly defined spots and stripes. Fruiting is delayed, the yield is reduced by almost half.
Ring spot is characterized by spotty yellowing of leaves. Small spots, losing green pigment, form rings on both leaves and fruits. The leaves are deformed, the growth of the apple tree slows down, the shoots are shortened, the trunk does not thicken, and the winter hardiness of the tree is greatly reduced.
It is worth saying that viral diseases that so often affect plums, cherries and raspberries develop infrequently on apple trees.
Peach chlorosis
Peach is very sensitive to iron deficiency, so chlorosis affects it quite often. First, the peach leaves turn yellow-green, then chlorotic signs appear even on the veins of the leaves, and the disease covers the entire crown, causing premature leaf fall and death of the tips of the shoots. Trees affected by chlorosis lose their frost resistance, and the next year they do not form shoots well and suffer from gum disease: the bark ruptures, cracks form, glue begins to be released, the branches dry out, and growth does not appear. The glue capsules must be removed with a sharp sterile knife, and the wounds must be cleaned, disinfected with a weak solution of potassium permanganate, rubbed with sorrel leaves (edible or horse sorrel) and covered with a mixture of clay and fresh mullein (1:1) or just clay.
It is necessary to combat chlorosis directly, that is, a lack of iron in the soil, using the same methods as for apple tree disease.
- Anthracnose / Anthracnose
Similar diseases
Mosaic of an apple tree - when the deciduous part of the apple tree is actively developing, with mosaic it can change its color, and also pronounced stripes and spots appear on the leaves, which just indicate that certain changes are occurring in general with the plant, and it is necessary to pay attention to them , in order to protect your planting from further negative development of the disease. At first, these stripes and spots become bright, yellow in color, and then they begin to fade. This suggests that the tissue on the leaves began to die, and an irreversible negative process was started. Affected leaves do not stay on the tree for long - they fall off over time. Chlorosis can manifest itself not only on the leaves themselves, but also its signs can be found on the shoot part and on the fruits themselves. With mosaic, fruiting may be delayed by several days or even weeks, and the yield is reduced by almost half, which is very noticeable, and not at all for the best. If the gardener does not provide any treatment to the tree, then fruiting may completely disappear, and the tree will stand with its sickly appearance until it dies completely on its own.
Chlorotic ring spot - this disease manifests itself in the form of randomly located yellow spots on leaf blades. The small spots gradually grow, causing the leaves to stop being green and forming a ring on them. The leaves gradually lose their shape, they become deformed and fall off. The causative agent of this disease is the chlorotic spot virus of the same name. Due to the development of the disease, apples practically stop growing, and the shoots completely stop developing, which is why there is no harvest. The trunk remains thin, its circumference does not increase, which also indicates that some unnatural processes are taking place in the plant that do not allow the apple tree to develop further. Both of the diseases we have just described fall under the category of viral chlorosis, and these signs and symptoms should also be paid close attention to. If they are detected in time, then there is a high chance that this tree will be saved, and the harvest will also be restored, but already in the next season. Of course, the question immediately arises of how to treat chlorosis, what measures need to be taken in order to save the plant, restore it to its former majesty, restore growth, development and fruiting. In the next part of the article, we will dwell on these questions in more detail and try to give the most accurate and relevant answers that will help both beginners and those who already have experience in caring for apple crops, but are still looking for new ways, to cope with chlorosis in order to improve the general condition of the tree, its vital activity and fruiting.
Chlorosis on flowers
Hydrangea chlorosis
Chlorosis of garden hydrangea occurs primarily due to a lack of iron in the soil. If no measures are taken, the plant begins to weaken as a result of metabolic disorders, its leaves turn yellow and lighten, although the veins remain green. It is advisable to take measures against chlorosis even before it manifests itself, because it is not for nothing that disease prevention is the key to the health of both people and plants. If hydrangea shows signs of chlorosis, you need to immediately treat its leaves with Iron Chelate or Agrecol, Micro Fe, Brexil, Ferovit and Ferrylene preparations. If the disease has progressed far, iron-containing preparations are applied at the root. A good effect in treating hydrangea from chlorosis is obtained by watering the plant’s trunk circle two or three times with a solution of 40 g of potassium nitrate or ferrous sulfate in 1 liter of water.
Petunia chlorosis
The signs of chlorosis in petunia are the same as in any other plant: the leaves begin to turn yellow, although the veins remain green, the edges of the leaves curl, the leaves fall off, and new ones develop small, the flowers change shape, the roots of the plant begin to die and the tops of the shoots dry out. . At the first symptoms, start adding citric acid to the water for irrigation (half a teaspoon of acid per 1 liter of water), but if there is no change for the better, add half a teaspoon of iron sulfate to the solution. This mixture is used to water the soil, not the petunia itself, until new leaves begin to develop healthy. To speed up the healing process, remove all developing buds from the petunia before they open. Instead of iron sulfate, you can use other preparations containing iron. Some gardeners also recommend spraying the plant on the leaves, but this advice raises caution: petunia does not tolerate even raindrops, so what can we say about a solution of microelements?
If chlorosis is viral in nature, you will have to say goodbye to petunias.
Chlorosis of roses
Even yellowing of the leaves and bright green veins on them is a sign of chlorosis in roses. If you didn’t overdo it last season with applying chemical fertilizers to your roses, then most likely the reason for such changes is iron deficiency. What’s interesting: of two bushes growing nearby, one may lack iron, while the neighboring one feels great.
Treatment of chlorosis should begin in the spring, before the growing season begins: mullein or humus and the missing element are added to the soil under the bushes. In the future, roses affected by chlorosis are not fed with nitrogen fertilizers, they are watered very sparingly and foliar feeding is carried out with complex fertilizers in cloudy weather until the plant recovers. During this period, do not do radical anti-aging pruning of the bush.
Drugs for chlorosis
We offer you a brief description of drugs that can be used to cure non-infectious chlorosis.
- Iron chelate is a microfertilizer that represents iron in chelated form, which allows plants to completely absorb this element;
- Chelatin is a microfertilizer that contains iron in chelated form. Used for foliar treatment and root feeding in the fight against chlorosis;
- Ferovit is a universal stimulator of photosynthesis and plant respiration, used for the prevention, treatment and protection against chlorosis of indoor, vegetable, fruit and ornamental crops and containing a highly concentrated solution of iron chelate;
- Brexil is a series of meso- and microelements and their compounds in a chelate complex, specially designed for the treatment and prevention of chlorosis using foliar feeding. The series includes drugs such as Brexil Ca (containing calcium), Brexil Mg (magnesium), Brexil Mn (manganese), Brexil Fe (iron) and so on;
- Iron sulfate is iron-II sulfate, an antiseptic, a contact fungicide and at the same time a microfertilizer containing iron in chelated form;
- Orton Micro-Fe is a universal microfertilizer for foliar feeding of vegetable and garden crops, containing essential microelements and iron in chelated form, eliminating the manifestations of chlorosis and helping to increase plant resistance to adverse environmental conditions and diseases;
- Ferylene (Ferrilen) is a universal chelate fertilizer for foliar feeding of vegetables, fruits and berries, ornamental crops and flowers, improving the synthesis of chlorophyll by plants;
- Agrecol is a multicomponent mineral concentrated fertilizer for indoor, balcony and garden plants with symptoms of chlorosis due to iron deficiency.
