There are few things worse for a gardener than to step into your garden and see burnt tips, yellowing, and curled edges on your leaves. These are all signs that your plants are not getting the appropriate amount of the nutrients that they need to thrive. Plant deficiency can strike even when your nutrient solution is well balanced because some factors may be preventing sufficient uptake.



If you are a truly a passionate gardener, then you are often concerned about the welfare of your plants. You see, professional gardeners care for their plants like do their children or pets. They want to see them happy, grow to their potential and never want to see them hurt or sick. Now I'm not saying that children and plants need the same amount of attention; anyone who has raised two kids knows that. But plants do however need their own brand of nurturing.

Plant deficiencies are a common problem in gardens & hydroponic systems, so just having a well-balanced nutrient solution isn't enough. You can provide all of the nutrients that you want to your feeding solution, but if you don't create an environment that encourages and fosters nutrient uptake, then you might still suffer from plant deficiency. Kind of like your kids! They need to eat good, healthy home cooked food to grow.

Fortunately, every gardener has at their disposal several tools that can allow them to provide the nutrient uptake that their plants need.

Beneficial Bacteria - As every gardener or hydroponic grower knows, the nutrient that most greatly affects and benefits hydroponic growth during the vegetative stage is Nitrogen. A steady supply of this macronutrient can help you plant get off to a get start that will lead inevitably to larger yields. But unfortunately, just putting a lot of nitrogen into your nutrient solution is no guarantee that your plants will receive all of the nitrogen they need.

The majority of this nitrogen must first be "fixed" into an ionic compound that is actually useful to your plant. The easiest way to do this is to add beneficial bacteria to your nutrient solution. These bacteria can help make your nitrogen much more bio available, plus they have a lot of other benefits as well, such as protecting your plants from harmful bacteria and other diseases.

Foliar Fertilizer - One of the first steps towards recovery from plant deficiency that many growers take is applying a quality foliar fertilizer. Even if the roots are having difficulty absorbing nutrients, you can use a foliar spray to give your plants an extra boost of nutrients while you take the time to correct the problem. This infusion of nutrients can save your harvest when it would have been otherwise been very weak because of the plant deficiency.

When foliar feeding, make certain to coat the leaves very thoroughly, top and bottom. The leaves absorb the foliar fertilizer through pores called stomata and the majority of these pores are actually on the underside of the leaves. It also helps if you use your foliar fertilizer in the early morning, when it is cool and the stomata are more likely to be open.

Humic Acid and Fulvic Acid – Humates, which include fulvic acid and humic acid, should be part of every hydroponic gardener's nutrient solution. These materials are an essential part of fertile soil and by adding them to nutrient solution, you can help break down your nutrients into much more efficient forms.

Though they are sold separately, it is important you use both fulvic acid and humic acid to truly guard yourself against plant deficiency. They serve virtually the same function, but they react a little bit differently to environmental conditions, so the combination ensures that you will be receiving constant benefit.

When using these products to combat or prevent plant deficiency, make certain to educate yourself on the best ways to use them and on other products that can be used in conjunction with them.

Plant deficiency is an important problem to recognize immediately especially if you want your garden to grow to its fullest potential. Following these few simple steps will allow you to recognize when your plants are deficient in nutrients and how to quickly solve the problem before your garden gets out of control.