{"id":11767,"date":"2020-05-05T05:49:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-04T19:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gardens.theownerbuildernetwork.co\/?p=11767"},"modified":"2025-10-30T21:13:26","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T11:13:26","slug":"is-your-garden-anemic-heres-how-to-fix-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/2020\/05\/05\/is-your-garden-anemic-heres-how-to-fix-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Is your garden anemic? Here\u2019s how to fix it."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Every\ngardener knows the frustration that comes with seeing less than healthy plants\nin one\u2019s garden. Sometimes, all it takes to revive a sickly plant is a little\nadjustment. You water a little more or perhaps move the plant to a sunnier\nspot. But if the most obvious remedies do not work, then it could be a sign of\na larger problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Healthy plants grow lush, deep green leaves. The verdant color indicates that chlorophyll is working to build food for the plant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the green turns into a feeble yellow, then the plant will fail to harness enough sunlight to manufacture food for itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Every
Every gardener knows the frustration that comes with seeing less than healthy plants in one\u2019s garden.
(Photo: Scott Nelson\/Flickr) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What\nis garden anemia?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This yellowing condition is called iron chlorosis \u2013 or garden anemia. Chlorosis is the most common micro-nutrient problem for a wide variety of plants and trees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nleaves of affected plants are yellow, light green, or white with distinct green\nveins. In severe cases, the leaves may even become entirely white.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garden\nanemia may be persistent or it may vary during the season or year to year. Much\ndepends on environmental conditions. If iron chlorosis is persistent over several\nyears, individual limbs – or the entire plant – may die. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"In
In severe cases of iron chlorosis, leaves may become entirely white. (Photo: Acabashi\/Wikimedia Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What\ncauses garden anemia?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Plants\nsuffer from garden anemia when the soil is too alkaline for them. Soil pH ranges\non a scale from 1 to 14. Most plants thrive at a soil pH between 4 and 8. They\nwill not grow if levels are any lower or higher. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iron\nchlorosis is common in plants growing in many types of soils. The deficiency is\nexaggerated by excessive soil moisture, soil salinity, high concentrations of\nphosphorous, and relatively high concentrations of copper, manganese, and zinc,\namong others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nmost important factor is the presence of lime in the soil. Some gardeners use lime\nto “sweeten” the soil, or make it more alkaline. Too much lime can\nlead to chlorosis in plants that prefer a more acid soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Plants
Plants suffer from garden anemia when the soil is too alkaline for them.
(Photo: Scott Nelson\/Flickr)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Diagnosis\n<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Preventing\nand controlling iron chlorosis is not that difficult. Warmer weather and drier\nsoils can sometimes cure the problem. Otherwise, you\u2019ll have to treat the\naffected plant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because iron chlorosis is caused by soil that is too alkaline, the treatment involves making the soil more acid. That\u2019s why the first step in treatment involves a little research. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conduct a soil test to determine the soil\u2019s pH. You then need to find out the soil pH that the affected plant prefers. The combination of findings will tell you how much nutrients you will need to apply to properly the adjust the soil’s pH levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"
The first step in treating garden anemia involves a little research.
(CSIRO Science Image\/Wikimedia Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Treatment<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You\ncan use an iron product \u2013 or chelates – to correct the problem. Chelates are\norganic molecules that absorb and hold metal ions so that they don’t react with\noxygen or other ions in the soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chelated\ncompounds must be placed into the root zone of anemic plants to be most\neffective. Incorporate the chelates lightly into the soil in the spring to\ncoincide with the first flush of growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If\nyou are treating a tree, then it would be best to dig a hole in the soil and\nfill it with a mix of sand or soil, fertilizer, and chelates. Don\u2019t overdo the\ntreatment. Just a few ounces of chelates will suffice to save a tree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Because
Because iron chlorosis is caused by soil that is too alkaline, the treatment involves making the soil more acid.
(Photo: Scott Nelson\/Flickr)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Preventing\nGarden Anemia<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Water\nmanagement is probably the most important consideration when growing plants in\nalkaline soils. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nchemistry of soil changes when it is constantly soggy or poorly drained. To\nprevent garden anemia, be sure to confine watering to the root zone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do\nnot overwater your plants and do not water until the moisture from previous\nwatering has evaporated. Frequent irrigation and overwatering in heavy clay\nsoils or cold temperatures often results in a persistent deficiency of iron.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, garden anemia is a common condition among plants. But you can treat – and prevent – iron chlorosis in your garden with the steps outlined above.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Garden anemia – or iron chlorosis – is the most common micro-nutrient problem for a wide variety of plants and trees. Here’s how to fix it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13557,"featured_media":11773,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"Fix yellowing plants fast! Learn how to identify and cure iron chlorosis in your garden with our simple step-by-step guide for healthier plants.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_seopress_news_disabled":"","_seopress_video_disabled":"","_seopress_video":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas_manual":[],"_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable_all":"","_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas":[],"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sma_last_campaign_date":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19,182],"tags":[350,348,349],"class_list":["post-11767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-compost-and-soils","category-tips-and-tricks","tag-anemic-garden","tag-garden-anemia","tag-iron-chlorosis"],"modified_by":"Freddie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13557"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11767"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11767\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}