Lesson 12 : Dispelling Myths About Nutrient Deficiencies March 18, 2016 Growing Tips First Watch : Teachings Of The Garden Sage Lesson 12 What did we learn? This week in the teachings of the garden sage David discusses something he encounters often with customers in his own store; something I like to call nutrient shaming. People will often come in asking for a remedy to a self-diagnosed plant nutrient deficiency. But what most people often don’t realize is that while a nutrient deficiency may be the case, it’s typically not that simple nor is it the nutrient solution’s fault. Most modern fertilizer solutions are formulated so that the nutrients are made immediately and easily available to the plants but there are a number of other factors that can stop the plant from taking them up properly. For example, too high of a humidity can act like a wet blanket and disrupt the photosynthesis process and water uptake while too low of a humidity can cause a plant to close it’s stomata with similar end results. Water uptake can also be affected by overwatering. If the plant never dries out it won’t take up water in the same way or nutrients in the process. Root disease caused by overwatering can cause deficiencies in the same way by rendering the roots mushy and unable to carry up nutrients. Even your plant’s genetics can negatively impact how it grows and what nutrients it struggles to consume. Watch more lessons to learn about your plants and how they work. The more you know, the easier it will become to troubleshoot your growing set-up and get to the root of the problem (pun intended). Have a great weekend and as always, let us know what you think! Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYou must be logged in to post a comment.