Calcium: Major component of cell walls, important
for root tips and growth.
Deficiency: Poor root development with weak tips, distorted
curled leaves with hooked tips.
Excess: causes iron deficiency in sensitive plants.
Magnesium: Essential for chlorophyll formation and a cofactor
for many enzyme reactions.
Deficiency: Leaf yellowing with brilliant colours.
Excess: causes calcium deficiency.
Nitrogen: Essential for proper leaf and stem growth,
protein synthesis.
Deficiency: Reduced growth, pale yellow-green leaves starting
with oldest.
Excess: causes potassium deficiency.
Phosphorous: Important for germination and growth of
seeds, growth of roots, flower and fruit production.
Deficiency: Reduced growth, small bluish-green leaves becoming
bronzy-purple or with scorched brown edges and falling off early, starting with the
oldest.
Excess: causes potassium deficiency.
Potassium: Promotes vigourous growth, disease
resistance.
Deficiency: Stunted growth with closely spaced leaves. Scorched
brown leaf tips and edges, rolled edges starting with oldest.
Excess: causes calcium and magnesium deficiency.
Sulphur: Essential for protein synthesis and
chlorophyll formation.
Deficiency: Slow growth with small, rounded brittle leaves.
Sodium:
Boron: Required for sugar transport, calcium
metabolism, water regulation and reproductive functions.
Deficiency: Scorched, mottled discoloured and curled leaves,
starting with most recent. Distorted and dead growing points, hollow stems, deformed
fruit.
Excess: scorched leaf edges (similar to potassium/magnesium
deficiency).
Chlorine
Deficiency: stubby roots and wilting.
Excess: scorched leaf edges (similar to potassium/magnesium
deficiency).
Copper: Required for protein synthesis and reproductive
functions.
Deficiency: leaves become bluish-green, wither or remain folded.
Yellow-edged tips of young leaves. Abnormal rosette formation at growing points.
Excess: causes iron deficiency.
Iron: Required for chlorophyll formation and production
of oxygen. Necessary for chlorophyll synthesis.
Deficiency: Yellow leaves with green leaf veins, starting with
most recent. May be caused by excess calcium.
Excess: scorched leaf edges (similar to potassium/magnesium
deficiency)
Manganese: Essential component of many enzymes and
important for Chlorophyll formation.
Deficiency: Yellow leaves with green veins, white or grey
flecks, starting with oldest.
Excess: causes iron deficiency and similar symptoms to manganese
deficiency.
Molybdenum: Essential for nitrogenase (nitrogen fixing)
enzymes and formation of root nodules in beans and peas.
Controls nitrogen metabolism.
Deficiency: yellow mottling and dead spots on the leaves,
distorted or dead growing points.
Zinc: required for synthesis of proteins and affects
size and maturity
Deficiency: Yellowing between leaf veins with purple/dead spots
on the older leaves. Leaves small, deformed and closely spaced. Defective fruiting.
Excess: causes iron deficiency.
The four trace elements most likely to cause problems in grazing livestock in New Zealand
Cobalt:
Selenium:
Iodine:
Copper: