While changing leaves is often a favorite aspect of the fall season, sometimes if your tree leaves are turning yellow (particularly outside of autumn!), there may be another culprit responsible rather than the change of the seasons. Oftentimes this yellowing can happen due to dehydration, disease, or even a pest infestation. Or, it could be iron chlorosis. It’s a condition that may sound a little overwhelming, but when a plant or tree has yellowing leaves due to iron chlorosis, all that it means is that it has an iron deficiency. Luckily, it’s not a terribly challenging problem to solve!
What Causes Iron Chlorosis?
Like many gardening issues, the answer is quite often in the soil, and it is no different with iron chlorosis. When your tree leaves start yellowing due to iron chlorosis, it means that the tree or plant cannot draw enough iron from the soil to produce the green pigment in chlorophyll. This doesn’t necessarily mean that there isn’t enough iron in the soil, but rather that the soil conditions prevent the plant from absorbing that iron. Reasons why this may be happening include: a high pH level in the soil, a large amount of phosphorus in the soil, your soil is primarily clay, or it is simply compacted or too wet.
How Can I Be Sure That Iron Chlorosis Is The Reason Why My Tree Leaves Are Turning Yellow?
As mentioned, there are some other reasons why your tree leaves may turn yellow, but there are a few telltale signs that point toward iron chlorosis. The first is that the yellowing will normally show up on the tips of new growth before making its way toward older leaves on the tree or plant as the problem worsens. Another common symptom of iron chlorosis is when the veins remain green while the actual blade of the leaves turns yellow. When your tree is extremely iron deficient, it may cause leaves to turn white and eventually drop, stunt flowering, or cause branches to die off. But, we’re going to help you make sure it doesn’t get that far if you ever encounter the challenge of iron chlorosis!
How to Treat Iron Chlorosis
If the proof is in the pudding, then the solution is in the soil when it comes to iron chlorosis. One of the first best steps is to conduct a soil test to find out what exactly you are dealing with in terms of pH level. If you have extremely alkaline soil, which can cause this deficiency, you can balance the pH by adding amendments to your soil like sulfur or sulfates.
Your soil test may also reveal that your soil lacks other minerals like manganese, which is another culprit that has been known to trigger leaf chlorosis. Stop by your local garden center to speak to their experts when you have determined what your soil is missing!
...adding a layer of about two to four inches of organic compost around the nutrient-deficient tree or plant will certainly help speed up the healing process.
But, one thing that is always a good idea when you need to amend your soil is to add lots of healthy organic matter! Whether you are trying to improve pH level, sandy soil, or heavy clay soil—adding a layer of about two to four inches of organic compost around the nutrient-deficient tree or plant will certainly help speed up the healing process.
The last tip is to spray the yellowing leaves on your iron-deficient tree with an iron compound. But, this is a short-term solution. In order to fix the problem long-term, you’ll need to do the work to amend your soil—and the effects of this soil amendment will take place slowly over time as the tree begins to absorb more iron.
Iron chlorosis can cause some significant long-term damage if left untreated, but it is a relatively simple problem to solve once you know what you’re dealing with! If you have any questions about potential nutrient deficiencies or how to improve your soil in Bismarck, stop by Plant Perfect to chat with one of our experts!