6 steps to identify nutrient deficiencies

By Heidi Wollaeger, Michigan State University Extension:

Growers in Michigan are busy wrapping up transplanting and shipping their product. In the flurry of the season, growers may overlook nutritional disorders in their crops. Most growers have trouble identifying nutrient deficiencies because many of the nutrient deficiencies create similar symptoms. So, how can you tell what nutrient is deficient?

Michigan State University Extension recommends these six steps in order to identify nutrient deficiencies.

1. Growers should eliminate the possibility that the symptoms are being caused by a biotic organism or from another environmental factor. For example, nutritional issues within the crop are rather consistent among plants and are not spotty within the crop.

2. Use the pour-thru or saturated media methods to test the pH and electrical conductivity (EC) of symptomatic plants. Are they within the normal range for that crop? Is your pH and EC meter calibrated correctly?

Click here to read the remaining four tips from MSU Extension.