Seattle_Aquarist

Hi ricoishere,

I would increase the K2SO4 to avoid increasing the other Macros (NO3 & PO4)

ricoishere

Thanks again!

Newt

Nice job Zapins.

I have one to add. Tips of leaves dark green is a phosphate deficiency. I had this with my Java Fern.

Zapins

Yes phosphate deficiencies can also cause dark green leaf colors.

The thing with deficiencies is that there are is a lot of give and take with the visual symptoms. I was reading a deficiency book on some common terrestrial plants and the actual deficiency signs are quite varied across different species.

There are some strong similarities, like nitrate deficiency is usually always linked to yellowing, but there are a lot of other nutrient deficiencies that look completely different in different plants.

What I would like to do is set up a controlled hydroponics experiment (emergent growth) where I purposely cause deficiencies in one nutrient at a time for the most common species of aquatic plants in order to see how valid something like my deficiency diagram actually is for aquatic plants. I suspect that what people see as one deficiency symptom in a species of aquatic plant might be totally different from the same nutrient deficiency in another species, making a general pictorial guide somewhat less accurate then a by-species guide. The only problem is I'm not sure how closely the emergent growth deficiency symptoms of aquatic plants correlates with the submerged deficiency symptoms of the same plant.

Thoughts?

wet

If you could do your experiment with submerged growth and water column dosing, it would eliminate the plant uptake via leaf vs root variable that's already blocking us with terrestrial studies.

But: amazing. I admire your ability to create a diagram showing the results of that experiment, and am excited about the results.

We're both hariom fans I think. I'm definitely one of your fans and think you a great gardener. If you're down, combining efforts might get us all to the promised land faster. Again, regardless, this contribution is already awesome.

Zapins

Haha, thank you, and yes I desperately want to get to the promised land as you call it. There is so much missinformation in this hobby its surprising we can even grow plants at all...

My main gripe with a submersed experiment is that algae will play a role, possibly causing secondary deficiencies that might skew the results. Growing the plants emersed eliminates the algae threat but the drawback is it might not be that useful for submersed growth.

I wonder if there is some type of algaecide that affects only plants that will allow a submersed study?

HeyPK

If you guys get going on any attempts to show deficiencies, remember to take pictures for the Plant Deficiency Symptoms section of the Photos collection. To be sure you have the deficiency you think you have, you should be able to document recovery from the symptoms by adding the element suspected of causing the deficiency. Damage to leaves caused by deficiency can not be repaired, but, if adding the element in question causes improved growth and stops new damage from happening, then you know you have correctly identified the deficiency.

To prevent secondary deficiencies, keep all the nutrients except the one you want deficient in good supply. Damage caused by unknown toxicities is another problem. You know that you don't have a toxicity problem if you get a good recovery and a healthy looking plant after adding the element you were trying to keep deficient. This picture of boron deficiency in a sword followed by recovery when boron was added illustrates that. The healthy new growth after the boron was added eliminates the possibility that some unknown toxicity was causing the damage:

cliffclof

I've looked over this many times before and had not seen this question. For future users, I would think this is mainly from extreme sodium levels like NaCl. It can also happen when using straight ro water with a substrate that has no available nutrients. Also Chlorine I think?

BruceF

I don’t remember where I copied this list from, maybe William Cullina. I just thought people might find it interesting.

Potassium - Protein synthesis, water and charge balance, enzyme activation.
Boron - Chlorophyll production, flowering, root growth, cell function.
Carbon - Required for all organic compounds.
Calcium - Cell wall stability and permeability, enzyme activation, cell response to stimuli.
Chlorine - Water and charge balance, photosynthesis.
Copper - Component of enzymes utilized in redox reactions that take place during photosynthesis.
Iron - Required for photosynthesis, component of enzymes utilized in redox reactions.
Magnesium - Component of chlorophyll, enzyme activation.
Manganese - Formation of amino acids, enzyme activation.
Molybdenum and Cobalt - Required for nitrate reduction.
Nickel - Enzyme activation, processing of nitrogenous material.
Sulfur - Component of proteins and the coenzymes that are involved with nutrient utilization and growth.
Zinc - Chlorophyll production, enzyme activation.

Zapins

Good summary. I saw the same list once and ever since I have been looking for it again.