The Diagnosis of Mineral Deficiencies in Plants by Visual Symptoms
I Stumbled across a fantastic website while looking for some information on leaf spot. The book “title of post” was published by his Majesty’s stationary office in 1943 and was aimed at farmers allotments and gardeners .It has a wealth of information on deficiencies in plants and soil with over 200 colour plates, “a real gem of a book” well, i had to see if i could track it down . I had no problems finding it at my favourite second hand online bookstore
Cant wait to receive it and start thumbing through it. I have pasted some excerpts from the website
Potassium: Potassium deficiency occurs more frequently on light soils than on heavy ones, since the potassium supplies in soils are generally highest in the clay fraction. In addition to sandy soils, peat’s and Chalk soils are often seriously potash deficient. For potash-loving crops, such as potatoes and beans, it is not unusual, however, to find instances of potassium deficiencies on heavy soils
A preponderance of the coarser fractions tends to make soils light, free working, freely drained and hungry, whilst where the finer fractions predominate (especially clay) the soils are heavy, sticky, difficult to work and retentive of water and manures.
The clay fraction is of special importance as it possesses colloidal properties, which give to soils many of their characteristic properties, such as swelling and shrinkage, holding up of water and absorption of mineral nutrients from manures. The clay colloid, together with the organic colloid (humus), acts as the soil storehouse for available plant nutrients on clay soils.
Although potassium deficient soils may be found in all parts of Great Britain, the deficiency is most prevalent in the South, south east and east of England, in the area approximating to the Chalk belt, stretching from Dorset to Yorkshire.
THE CONSTITUTION OF SOILS
One of the first points which is brought out in any examination of a number of soils is their great diversity. In practical terms, soils may be good or bad; light or heavy; wet or dry; fertile or hungry; deep or shallow; black, red or brown; peaty, sandy, silty or clay; A preponderance of the coarser fractions tends to make soils light, free working, freely drained and hungry, whilst where the finer fractions predominate (especially clay) the soils are heavy, sticky, difficult to work and retentive of water and manures.
Soils are very complex bodies but, although showing such great variation, they all consist of five main components, mineral matter, organic matter, soil water, the soil atmosphere and a population of micro-organisms. The last, however, need not concern us in detail here.
Mineral Matter: The mineral matter furnishes the skeleton of the soil. It consists of materials which range in size from rock fragments and large pebbles to minute particles of clay which can be suspended in water for considerable periods. The mineral portion, which largely determines the texture of the soil, can be separated into its component parts or “fractions” by a combination of sieving and sedimentation in water. The British standard method of grading is as follows:
FRACTION DIAMETER LIMITS
Stones 2.0 m.m.
Coarse Sand 2.0—0.2 m.m.
Fine Sand 0.2—0.02 m.m.
Silt 0.02—0.0002 m.m.
Clay 0.002 m.m.
250. TOMATO PLANT
Nitrogen deficiency
Growth dwarfed, thin and upright habit; stem and petioles rigid; leaves pale green, occasional purplish tints, older leaves yellowing.
251. TOMATO PLANT
Phosphorus deficiency
Growth dwarfed and thin; leaflets droop, curl backward and develop strong, dull purple tints.
252. TOMATO STEM
Calcium deficiency
Death of growing point, and die-back of main stem from tip; die-back of leaves, progressing from terminal leaflets and of flower and fruiting trusses.
253. TOMATO TRUSS
Calcium deficiency
Dying off of terminal leaflets and flowers; leaves purplish brown tinting.
254. TOMATO TRUSSES — “Blossom End Rot”
Calcium deficiency
Dying back of trusses and “Blossom End Wilt” of distal fruit
255. TOMATO LEAF
Magnesium deficiency
Central intervenal chlorosis and green marginal bands.
258. TOMATO LEAF
Potassium deficiency
Leaflets slight marginal and intervenal chlorosis followed by brown marginal scorching; scorched margins curled forward.
259. TOMATO FRUIT
Potassium deficiency
“Blotchy Ripening”; green and yellow areas merging into red color of surface.
260. TOMATO FRUITS - Tomato “mosaic”
Virus Disease. Blotchy uneven ripening, similar to “Blotchy Ripening” due to potassium deficiency but blotchy areas more sharply defined.
261. TOMATO FOLIAGE
Iron deficiency
Tip leaves, especially basal areas of leaflets, intense chlorotic mottling; stem near tip also yellow.
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