How to Treat Iron Deficiency

What is Iron Deficiency?

Iron deficiency is a plant disorder, which can be easily confused with manganese deficiency. Iron deficiency can be caused by a lack of nutrients in your soil, and worsened by long periods of rainfall or excessive watering.

Iron is essential to produce chlorophyll in plants, which explains why its deficiency usually shows up as yellowing of the youngest leaves (chlorosis), especially on the veins. If there’s a shortage of iron, the plant can’t produce enough chlorophyll to stay green: severely affected leaves can turn completely white.

This problem is common in camellias, azaleas and other acid-loving plants, as well as citrus and roses.

It’s worth testing soil pH if you suspect an iron deficiency, as alkaline soil pH can 'lock up' iron and prevent plants from absorbing it properly…testing will indicate if the pH level is the underlying problem.

Symptoms

Leaves turning yellow or brown in the margins between the veins (which may remain green), while young leaves may appear bleached.

How to Protect Your Plants

Yates ‘Leaf Greener’ Iron Chelate is our go-to product to fix an iron deficiency. Applied as a foliar application, it delivers iron directly to the deficient leaves for faster results. Foliar applications add less iron into the soil, compared to traditional soil drench applications, which means less wastage and lower risk of soil toxicity.

If you discover alkaline soil is the underlying issue, Yates Liquid Sulfur ‘Soil Acidifier’ is an easy and effective method to reduce and maintain soil pH. It's also an excellent source of elemental sulfur.