Magnesium or Iron Deficiencies ?

by Richard Chew

I have posted sometime ago on dealing with chlorotic rose.

Chlorosis is usually caused by iron deficiencies. Its symptoms are usually yellowing leaves with dark veins.

I have posted how I resolve this in http://rosegrowing.blogspot.com/2008/11/dealing-with-cholorotic-nozomi-rose.html

However it is often confused with magnesium deficiencies. Both have same symptoms but caused by different pH extreme. I very often mistook the symptom for the other.

Magnesium deficiency is usually caused by too low pH (soil too acidic).

Before treating the deficiencies, it is important to correct the soil pH first before attempting to correct the deficiencies.

Soil acidity could be caused by laying excessive brown mulch or excessive organic fertilizers like fish meal, bone meal, it is important to check what you fed the soil that may have lowered the soil pH.

My favourite method to treat acidic soil is by adding manure fertilizer, such as dry chicken manure or cattle manure. And then follow by liquid seaweed fertilizer. I would feed both soil and on leaves.



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