Hi everybody! Welcome back to our lesson in CP Heaven's learning lab!

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Today we will be learning about:

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1. How to identify Nutrient deficiency 

2. How to resolve these issues

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Introduction to plant nutrients deficiency

A plant is a living thing, and all living things require water and food to grow big and strong.

Plants use sunlight to make food, but is that everything that a plant requires? 

The short answer to this is no. Plants, like us, require more than just energy from food. 

Plants are made up of cells, and these cells are made up of molecules and these molecules are made up of atoms. These molecules and atoms are just like Lego blocks, they are required by plants and animals to build a healthy body. 

Ask yourself that if a plant only gains energy and water to sustain itself, how will this plant be able to grow bigger without gaining the required building blocks for growth?

 

When a plant is short of "building block(s)" (nutrients), we call that nutrient deficiency.

To keep a plant healthy, we must address them correctly to avoid stunting growth.

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The chart below described different kinds of deficiencies and how to identify them.

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How to use the diagram above:

1. Identify how a healthy plant should look.

2. Compare the entire plant with a healthy looking one.

3. Take a closer look at the topmost leaves and compare them with leaves in the bottom area.

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Below are examples of how I did a comparison of a healthy plant and a plant that is showing symptoms of nutrient deficiency.

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Questions I'll ask myself:

• Does the plant always have most bottom leaves turning yellow? Yes

• Is the leaf count fewer than how it should be? Yes

• Is the plant grower much slower than usual? Yes

• How long ago has the plant been fertilized? and with what? Not at all

• Since is a carnivorous plant, has the plant been feeding recently? No

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Diagnose: Nitrogen deficiency

 

Symptoms:

- Yellowing/browning/dying (necrosis) of the oldest leaf.

- Necrosis of the leaf starts from the outermost part of the leaf and moves slowly inwards.

- Newest few leaves (The top portion) of the plant are green and alive.

- Very slow growth

 

Treatment:

- Use some fertilizer that is high in nitrogen.

 

Since this is a carnivorous plant, I choose to use Maxsea as it's a preferred choice of fertilizer for most carnivorous plant growers. I'll teach more about fertilizer in the next lesson.

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I've also prepared a list below to show what a plant with each deficiency looks like.