Tomato Fertilizer Burn: Symptom Identification and Prevention Measures
Tomatoes have a fairly high demand for fertilizer, so fertilizing is an important part of cultivation, but care must be taken to avoid fertilizer burn. Once fertilizer burn occurs, it not only wastes fertilizer but also causes enormous damage to the growth and development of tomatoes. So what should you do when fertilizer burn occurs in tomatoes? Let's take a detailed look together.
1. Causes
Fertilizer burn, as the name implies, is caused by excessive fertilization, mainly by applying an excessive amount of chemical fertilizer at one time. The high concentration damages the root system and reduces its ability to absorb nutrients. Because the plant lacks sufficient nutrients and water, a series of symptoms affecting growth and development appear.
2. Symptoms
In the early stage of damage, irregular gray or grayish-white spots appear on the leaves. As the condition develops, the spots expand, with a withered green center, and in the later stage the spots cause perforation of the leaves. Unlike diseases, these necrotic spots will not expand indefinitely, and the condition develops rapidly under high temperature and drought conditions. When too much nitrogen fertilizer is applied, the plant suffers poisoning from absorbing excessive ammonia, and during the nitrification process of ammonia, nitrite accumulation can also occur, causing poisoning and symptoms of browning roots and yellowing leaves.
3. Preventive Measures
Fertilization should be scientific and reasonable. Do not apply too much fertilizer at one time, and apply it evenly. When applying high-concentration chemical fertilizers, water immediately after application or apply them dissolved in irrigation water to control the fertilizer concentration. At the same time, reduce the amount of chemical fertilizer applied and increase the use of organic fertilizer. If conditions permit, biological bacterial fertilizer can be used as organic fertilizer, using layered application and deep full-layer application methods to prevent fertilizer from being exposed on the soil surface.
4. Remedial Methods
When fertilizer burn symptoms appear in tomatoes, water promptly to promote root water uptake and dilute the fertilizer solution in the plant's tissues, and at the same time combine this with foliar feeding, spraying a large amount of clean water to dilute the high-concentration fertilizer solution on the leaf surface and reduce the damage. If the fertilizer burn is severe, you can spray agents such as sodium nitrophenolate, brassinolide, and Jiehailing, which can promote protoplasmic flow in cells, improve cell vitality, and help the plant quickly recover its vigor.
The above is an introduction to tomato fertilizer burn symptoms and prevention measures. We hope it helps you. To learn more related knowledge, please stay tuned to us.