My Plant Leaves are Turning Yellow!

Traditional school of thought associates yellowing leaves in a hydroponic system as a direct result of nutritional deficiencies. Yellowing leaves are a symptom and not a disease itself therefore the root cause must be found before the proper action can be taken. In some cases increasing the level of nutrition can actually do more harm to the plant!

Although nutritional deficiencies are the most common cause of plant leaves turning yellow, this yellowing of the leaves are a reaction to a distress. Other root causes of leaves turning yellow are excessive heat, nutrient toxicity, insects, and other diseases.

In the case of nutrient deficiencies, we must determine if we are underfeeding the plant or if the plant is not able to absorb the nutrients that we are providing. If the plant is not absorbing the nutrient solution, no amount of additional fertilization will help.

Common causes for plants being unable to uptake nutrients properly include lack of oxygen for the roots, pH imbalance, salinity, temperature and light imbalances.First start by removing the affected plants from the light source until the problem has been treated. Since light forces the plants to burn energy, it could aggravate the problem and cause even more yellow leaves.

Next is to check the ph level of the growing medium. One of the biggest factors affecting nutrient absorption is a ph imbalance. It is a classic case of catch 22 because the imbalance causes limited absorption which in turn causes excess nutrients to build up in the medium. What does an excess build up of nutrients cause? Nutrient Toxicity !

So remember to check the medium pH first and not the solution pH. This is the most important tip I can give you today. Please check in regularly as I will cover more on this topic at a later date.

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