apple tree nutrient defficiencies

[ele26]

Hi there,

I am trying to learn recognising nutrient deficiencies. I have some guesses but it will help if you tell me your opinion

potassium?


Phosphorus?


??


magnesium?



Magnesium or Zinc? Maybe iron?


Thanks

[FB.]

Nutrient deficiencies are not always easy to tell from climate effects (e.g. cold winds), pests or diseases (e.g. scab).

In most cases of nutritional deficiency there will be a clear reason if you look at the soil in which the plant is growing.
If the pH is too low or too high that will tie up certain nutrients due to acid/base chemical reactions with those nutrients and make it more difficult for the plant to acquire them.
If the soil is too sandy all the nutrients just wash away.

By growing apples and other fruits on very vigorous rootstocks or seedling rootstocks a great deal of the nutrient deficiency problems disappear because the roots are usually strong enough to absorb enough nutrients even in difficult soils.

Some varieties of apple are particularly tolerant of certain soil deficiencies, with certain varieties (or rootstocks) being more prone to certain deficiencies.

As for your pictures: most could be due to minor disease such as scab. The last couple could be iron or magnesium deficiency and usually seen in soil sitting over chalk or in potted plants fed with tap water in areas of hard water. The excess calcium in the chalk or the tapwater saturates/competes with the ability of the plant to absorb other metallic nutrients.

What made you ask the question? Do you have some sick trees or is it a college project?

If you have some sick trees, it'd be much easier to state where you're located, what your soil/climate is like, which variety you're growing and which rootstock it is on.
Usually a nutrient-deficient tree can quickly be brought back to health by giving a couple of compost mulches each year.
Compost "feeds the soil" and with a healthy soil come "friendly fungi" which live in a symbiotic relationship with the plant. Simply putting synthetic fertiliser does nothing to help the soil micro-organisms and synthetic fertilisers may lack certain micro/trace-nutrients which are found in compost.
Despite the relatively low nitrogen value of compost, in my experience it is far more invigorating and health-promoting to plants than synthetic nitrogen and synthetic fertilisers in general.

[ele26]

Hi,
I am an agronomy student but this is just my personal interest to learn identify deficiencies. The leaves are from an organic orchard and they are coming from different trees-varieties.

I am very keen on try to learn separating the symptoms, that's why I collect them

Thanks

[boundtothesoil]

Hi,
I am an agronomy student but this is just my personal interest to learn identify deficiencies. The leaves are from an organic orchard and they are coming from different trees-varieties.

I am very keen on try to learn separating the symptoms, that's why I collect them

Thanks

Have you had a good look round the web?
The link below is to some old MAFF sponsored work at Bristol frim the 1950s
Color Pictures of Mineral Deficiencies in Apple Plants

However, there are some excellent photographic records of nutrient deficiencies in apples to be found on some of the websites of the fruit/horticultural departments in the major US universities active in this field. The drastic decline in government-funded horticultural research in the UK over the last 30 years means there is little or no significant research performed on the nutrition of top-fruit any more (this includes universities). In contrast, there is still quite a lot going on in the USA, Canada, NewZealand etc. That's where to look.

Most photo collections I've seen seem to dot about amongst different varieties for different nutrients, making direct comparison difficult. Hence, it might be a good idea to collect a 'full set' of deficiency symptom photos for a number of iconic/representative varieties (e.g. Cox's, Gala, Bramley's, or another triploid variety,). There is significant variation in susceptibility to different nutrient deficiencies amongst both varieties and rootstocks, plus mainly minor effects of Genotype X Environment interactions on the phenotype for a given nutrient deficiency.

Given the generally piece-meal efforts in the UK in the past, and the absence of comprehensive field trials for major and minor nutrient elements in the UK, the field is probably still waiting for the definitive guide to be published.

[Paulieb]

Not got time at the moment to go through them all, but, the last one in a classic case of interveinal chlorosis.

I'll try to have another look later

[ele26]

Thanks to all of you for the answers. Boundtothesoil I have found the website but the pic aren't so clear that is why I posted them overhere. I have been searching in the web a week now. Tomorrow morning I will go again on the orchard and try to look the symptoms all over the tree. It might help a bit.