Symptoms of nitrogen deficiency in plants: If you have met all your plant’s needs and you are sure that it is healthy, but yet you are facing houseplant leaves turning yellow, read this article to the end to find out the reason and some helpful point that you can resurrect your plant and turn it to a fresh and beautiful one! Don’t forget plants, just like us and all other creatures, need nutrition to survive, and without these materials, they lose their freshness. In this post, we have discussed one of the essential elements that can keep the plant fresh and healthy.
Why do plants need nitrogen?
Nitrogen is crucial for plants’ growth. It plays a vital role in functional parts of the plant, such as chlorophyll synthesis and protein production. Moreover, nitrogen also increases plant growth. So, suppose you want to list all nitrogen roles in plants. In that case, it includes increasing the number of carbohydrates and proteins, improving photosynthesis, increasing plant foliage growth, i.e., vegetative growth, and making plant enzymes work correctly. Therefore, nitrogen is fundamental for plant growth. Plants get most of their required nitrogen as Ammonium or Nitrate.
Nitrogen exists in the soil in the following forms:
- Organic nitrogen
- Nitrate (NO3+)
- Ammonium (NH4+)
What happens to a plant with nitrogen deficiency?
Symptoms of nitrogen deficiency in plants are different from one to another. It’s noteworthy that there is a lot of nitrogen in the earth’s atmosphere. Still, plants can’t directly use this nitrogen correspondingly. Nitrogen deficiency is pretty common in the case of poor fertilizing.
The first symptoms of nitrogen deficiency in plants occur in the leaves, where the leaves chlorophyll decreases, and they become pale and yellow, i.e., Chlorosis. This yellowing process starts from the lower leaves. Nitrogen deficiency makes small stems thin, and leaves and foliage grow at a slight angle to the main stem.
Plants will face malfunction and flowering, fruit-bearing, and the storage of protein and starch of the plant decreases. A decrease in protein causes a decrease in plant growth. Plant buds may also be destroyed.
Nitrogen deficiency affects roots as well. Due to this problem, too many secondary or lateral roots will grow to absorb the required nutrition and save the plants. Consequently, the size of your plant’s root will be larger than the aerial parts of the plant. In general, nitrogen deficiency will lead to plants’ slow growth and leaves turning yellow. Nitrogen deficiency is not the only reason houseplant leaves turn yellow; other factors, such as diseases, can also cause this problem.
What Causes Nitrogen Deficiency in Plants?
In addition to not getting special fertilizers, other situations can provoke nitrogen deficiency. Overwatering will wash the nitrogen and take it out of the pot, leading to nitrogen deficiency.
On the other hand, if you do not water your plant for a long time, it will face drought stress, which will prevent the absorption of nutrition and disturb the balance of nutrients. The soil’s acidity level also plays an important role in plants’ nitrogen absorption. Increasing or decreasing soil pH has an adverse effect on nitrogen absorption.
Certain bacteria living in the soil can convert the available nitrogen into the desired form of the plant, and these bacteria need oxygen to do so. Therefore, if the soil does not have suitable ventilation, these bacteria cannot function properly. So soil aeration is also important in this deficiency.
If you planted your plant in the garden with many herbs, since they consume lots of nitrogen, get rid of them ASAP.
how to treat nitrogen deficiency in plants
To feed your plants nitrogen-based fertilizers, you can use bacteria urea, ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate, potassium nitrate, and other nitrogenous fertilizers, as experts recommend. Nitrogen is one of the components of essential fertilizers. It is used alongside potassium and phosphorus as in N-P-K fertilizer. Since too much nitrogen in the soil will cause nitrogen poisoning, follow the instructions. Remember that the PH of your soil is essential, and the amount of irrigation is also significant. Do not water so much that the nutrients are washed away, the plant does not reach them, or do not water so tiny that the plant suffers from drought stress.
Also, you can solve this problem with other methods, such as adding animal manure, compost, or coco pit to the soil or planting a green manure product, namely a borage plant; also, you can plant stabilizing plant. The last two methods are for indoor plants and pots. It is not yours, and if you have a plant in your garden, you can use it.
If the soil has little organic material, you need to starts do something like changing soil or using fertilizers; otherwise, your plant will face nitrogen deficiency. Also, be careful not to add too much nitrogen, which can lead to nitrogen poisoning.
What are the symptoms of nitrogen deficiency in plants?
Nitrogen deficiencyin plants appears as a general pale yellowish-green plant with slow growth and reduced tiller development. If the deficiency persists, plants remain pale green, have reduced growth, and the stand appears thin.
How do you fix nitrogen deficiency in plants?
- Treat plants with a food rich in nitrogen.
- Use an organic fertilizer or nitrate of soda.
- Increase pH for better root absorption of nitrogen.
- Increase nutrient levels with regular spring feedings.
- Use liquid plant foods. Mulch the soil.
- Use a fertilizer rich in nitrogen.
Final point
In addition to nitrogen deficiency, a lack of other elements can cause a problem. Sometimes the yellowing of the leaves can be caused by excessive watering or a problem in the roots of the plant, and it should not be considered a nitrogen deficiency; in some cases, you get enough fertilizer and nutrients for your plant, but the plant cannot absorb it due to environmental conditions. If it does, then be sure to check other conditions because too much fertilization will also cause the death of your plants.