Chlorosis?
Looks like, since repotting, most of my guavas are suffering from chlorosis. It’s weird to me, as I didn’t do a full repot. They weren’t root bound, so I just stopped some roots that were barely starting to circle, then put the whole ball with existing soil into a larger pot with some new stuff.
I did have a big fungus gnat problem this spring, and I wonder if I’m still recovering from that.
Macronutrients tested on the high side. Could this be root burn from excess fertilizer? I’ll probably supplement with Cal-Mag next time I water, but I’m curious to read your thoughts.
#GuavaTree #guava #diagnose #DiagnosisHelp fertilizer">#fertilizer #Nutrients #micronutrients chlorosis">#chlorosis #FruitTrees #orchard
I did have a big fungus gnat problem this spring, and I wonder if I’m still recovering from that.
Macronutrients tested on the high side. Could this be root burn from excess fertilizer? I’ll probably supplement with Cal-Mag next time I water, but I’m curious to read your thoughts.
#GuavaTree #guava #diagnose #DiagnosisHelp fertilizer">#fertilizer #Nutrients #micronutrients chlorosis">#chlorosis #FruitTrees #orchard
4
Best Answer
It looks like iron chlorosis to me. Cal-mag is probably raising your soil pH too high and the plant can’t absorb the iron it needs to make chlorophyll. When pH gets over 7, iron stops being soluble and plants can no longer absorb it. Your soil pH needs to be in the range 5.0-7.0, try mixing in some blueberry soil (mixed designed for blueberries will always be acidic).
(It’s possible your new soil doesn’t have enough iron and needs a supplement, but it seems more likely that your new soil is just not as acidic as the old soil and something like cal-mag is the thing negatively impacting iron absorption after repotting)
Fun question!
(It’s possible your new soil doesn’t have enough iron and needs a supplement, but it seems more likely that your new soil is just not as acidic as the old soil and something like cal-mag is the thing negatively impacting iron absorption after repotting)
Fun question!
pH is a little higher than I’d like (6.5), and the water I’m using is about 6.0. I’d prefer a little under 6. I might add some horticultural sulfur to lower the pH and add that nutrient. These plants haven’t had the calmag yet (well, they did today)
Woe that I can’t just stick a nail in the soil anymore! I don’t trust all the coatings and whatnot that modern nails use. Though I’m considering putting a couple pieces of baling wire in there.
Well, iron, sulfur, or manganese were my top suspects. Thanks for giving me some ideas. If the macronutrients weren’t so high already I’d just put some hollytone in there.
It’s always an adventure, isn’t it?
Woe that I can’t just stick a nail in the soil anymore! I don’t trust all the coatings and whatnot that modern nails use. Though I’m considering putting a couple pieces of baling wire in there.
Well, iron, sulfur, or manganese were my top suspects. Thanks for giving me some ideas. If the macronutrients weren’t so high already I’d just put some hollytone in there.
It’s always an adventure, isn’t it?
@CordialWildyam yeah, at that pH iron should definitely still be soluble (maybe it’s more basic near the roots?). You could get a lucky iron fish and boil it for a while with a splash of lemon or something and use that to water your plants once it cools? Lucky iron fish should be food-grade iron with no coatings, the whole point of them is to be added to food during cooking to leach small amounts of iron into it to help people with iron-deficiency anemia get their levels up
Oo, an iron fish is a great idea