Chlorosis |
Utah County: (801) 373-2065 Salt Lake County: (801) 347-1240 |
Dubbed as the "Green Sickness" in human medicine, in botany, it's called Chlorosis. It is one of the most common plant problems we are facing today. It is where the green pigments of the leaf turn yellow commonly caused by damaged roots, mineral deficiencies and high soil alkalinity. Lack of common soil nutrients like manganese, copper, zinc and iron are needed for the formation of chlorophyll. Aside from that, poor drainage, soil pH level, pesticides particularly herbacides contributes to a lot of cases like chlorosis also. As observed conditions of chlorosis varies on each plant. I believed this is common to Chicago, where insufficient iron is a problem. Several symptoms can be seen naturally and scientifically for chlorosis. It depends on the amount of Alkaline, the higher PH level the higher chlorotic it could be, but commonly the longer the chlorotic exposure the severe symptoms could be seen. A mild symptom shows the paling of plant tissues. The brighter or the yellowier the color of the plant means more sever conditions. Affected parts of the plant may experience disease to plant death. Commonly vines like grapes experience a lot of issue especially when the soil is reach in limestone. We have one on our backyard. The grape vine was planted 10 years ago but nothing has changed to the structure of the plant. It also never bears fruits. Its vine went thicker as the years go by. It is understood that when you plant grape vine in a tropical country, like the Philippines, there are chances that it will not survive unless your farm is situated in the cold mountains. I have observed that the green pigments went pale as the days go by. I believed it experience mild chlorosis. The plant really did die but it sort of degrades in terms of physical features. Common measurements that most people do for chlorosis are; cultural practices like aerification, tiling, and mulching; foliar applications; trunk applications; and via soil treatment. Foliar applications mainly focus on the leaves. Nutrients in a water solution are one of the most common methods to correct the abnormalities. The trunk application is one of the quickest and may last for years. There are actually two major ways to do the trunk application; one; drilling holes on the trunk where tubes with nutrients are attached. Normally the numbers of holes are based on the trunks diameter but this is not applied for small plants. Second, is to put capsules on the drilled holes. Theses are left in the tree for a while and must be done by the professionals. The final method is soil treatment ? test should be done by determining the pH level, before treating the soil. 
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