Daily Archives: June 21, 2020

Everything about pH

Posted on by

Everything about pH – Acidic or Alkaline

  1. pH is the measure of acidity or alkalinity of soil.pH varies between 1 to 14. 1 being most acidic and 14 being most alkaline. 6.5 to 7 is considered as neutral
  2. pH varies between 1 to 14. 1 being most acidic and 14 being most alkaline. 6.5 to 7 is considered as neutral
  3. Plants extract iron from the soil by roots. If the soil is alkaline irons bound to the soil.Depending on soil pH mineral bound to soil particle or make it soluble for uptake by plant
  4. Hydrogen ions are found at very low level. 0.0000001 Molar which is (log10 -7) pH7.pH is concentration of hydrogen ions. The more hydrogen ions are loosely available the lower the pH. The soil would be more acidic not alkaline.

Low the soil pH
Soil that is too acid (having a low Ph between 1.0 and 6.0) will show the following symptoms caused by increased availability of aluminum and a
decreased availability of phosphorus

  1. wilting leaves
  2. stunted growth of plant and/or root
  3. yellow spots on the leaves that turn brown and lead to leaf death
  4. blighted leaf tips
  5. poor stem development

High the soil pH
Soil that is too alkaline (having a high Ph between 8.0 and 14.0) will show the following symptoms caused by the plants inability to absorb iron. Phosphorus is
also not readily available and the micronutrients zinc, copper and manganese are also in limited supply.

  1. Interveinal chlorosis- (light green or yellowing of the leaf with green veining)
  2. General leaf discoloration

From the ph scale below, certain plants thrive in slightly acidic or slightly alkaline conditions. If you see your asparagus, cauliflower, lettuce, parsley
and spinach thriving you may have more alkaline conditions if your plants like radishes, sweet potatoes, peppers, and carrots are
struggling since they thrive in more acidic conditions and vice versa.

Chlorosis in Plants

Posted on by

Chlorosis is a yellowing of leaf tissue due to a lack of chlorophyll. Possible causes of chlorosis include poor drainage, damaged roots,
compacted roots, high alkalinity, and nutrient deficiencies in the plant. Nutrient deficiencies may occur because there is an insufficient amount in the soil or because the nutrients are unavailable due to a high pH (alkaline soil). Or the nutrients may not be absorbed due to injured roots or poor root growth.

Chlorosis can be because of iron deficiency(called just chlorosis) or nitrogen deficiency(interveinal chlorosis)

Iron deficiency or Intervenial Chlorosis
Interveinal chlorosis is a yellowing of the leaves between the veins with the veins remaining green. . A lack of iron in the soil can cause interveinal chlorosis but so will a number of other soil issues. Just because you have a plant with interveinal chlorosis does not mean you have an iron deficiency. Each of the following conditions can produce the same symptoms. Use Iron sulfate around the plant. This will add iron, in case you do have a deficiency. It will also add sulfur which might help lower your soil pH. You can also try just agricultural sulfur which will lower the pH. When the pH goes down, plants have an easier time getting at the existing iron.

  1. a high soil pH or Soil is alkaline
  2. manganese deficiency
  3. compacted soil
  4. plant competition

Nitrogen deficiency or Chlorisis
Nitrogen taken up by plants is used in the formation of amino acids which is the building block for proteins. Nitrogen is a structural component of chlorophyll. Urea, ammonium nitrate, calcium ammonium nitrate are common nitrogen-based fertilizers being used. When a plant is suffering from Nitrogen Chlorosis the older leaves of the plant will turn yellow rather than
younger leaves since younger leaves have nitrogen readily available from roots and more absorbing capacity than older leaves. Using azospirillum helps in fixing nitrogen in the soil.