How to prevent and solve nitrogen deficiencies?

Nitrogen deficiencies in your crop can be identified by a change in leaf colour. Your leaves become pale green, then yellowish green and ultimately, yellow, at which point they will die. Nitrogen deficiencies reduce protein synthesis, which leads a plant to break down its proteins (the stems will turn purple). Eventually, it will break down its chlorophyll (leaf green) as well, which causes the leaves to wilt and break off. In this blog, we will explain how you can prevent this from happening and, if your plants are already affected, how to solve it. 

What causes nitrogen deficiency?

Nitrogen deficiency is caused by a number of things, including: 

• Rain showers that may flush out the nitrogen from the soil.
• pH-levels in the root environment, which may be too high. Read more about pH-levels. 
• Damage to the root system, for instance, due to root rot.
• Too many micro-organisms, which hold on to large amounts of nitrogen. 
• Too low a temperature at the roots.
• Soil that is too wet, causing the oxygen supply to the roots to come to a halt.

Prevention of nitrogen deficiency

Nitrogen deficiency can be prevented by:

• Measuring pH-values regularly. Too high? Add BAC pH- to stabilise pH-levels. 
• Keeping an eye on the root temperature. In cold weather, heat the roots with a heat source.
• Ensuring the soil doesn’t become too wet.  

Solving nitrogen deficiency

We offer a number of organic plant feed products that help you address the deficiency:

• BAC Organic grow: this growth nutrition contains nitrogen. 
• BAC Biotablets: soil bacteria bind nitrogen that has not been absorbed, keeping it from being flushed out. 
• BAC pH-: lowers pH-levels.
• Mineral plant feeds:  contain nitrogen.

More information

Would you like to learn more about nitrogen deficiencies? Or are you looking at a nitrogen surplus? Our staff can tell you all about growing plants and solving any problems that might occur. Together, you will be able to come to a proper solution, enabling your crops to thrive once more.