Red root floater (Phyllanthus fluitans) and the effect of nitrogen (N).

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Especially in hard water chelated iron supplements seem to me essential just as in an alkaline garden many acid favouring plants need extra iron, but green is the colour not red that results

That one. There is further discussion in <"We've talked about iron deficiency, but what are going to do about it?"> with @keef321's photos (below).

Before: hard, alkaline water with limited iron availability

After: Same water but with a more suitable iron chelator.

The reason is that chlorophyll (green) <"The scientific background to the "Leaf Colour Chart""> is in the mesophyll cells of the leaf, but<"anthocyanins (red) are in the cell vacuole">, and if you have more chlorophyll it effectively masks the red colour <"GreggZ Planted Rainbow Tank!>.

Iron deficiency leads to chlorotic yellow new leaves, the leaves are yellow because iron is required to synthesise chlorophyll and can't be moved from leaf to leaf. If anthocyanins are present? That yellow will be red tinged.

cheers Darrel

 

[Connswater]

Thanks Darrel, great photographs, really illustrative. Wish I had taken some before and after photographs of a neighbour's grass I once restored for him, not with a high Nitrogen rich feed which he was using, which when it works seems to give grass a blue artificial tint, but with good old sequestered iron tonic. The technical botany biology you use I fear might just be a little bit beyond me, sorry, maybe I should to night class, I never did chemistry O level, and the biology I did at O level was I fear, looking back, maybe a bit basic. But as always a super response from you, excellent, much appreciated.

 

[AlecF]

I have an enamel dish in my stairwell, unheated, only natural light, and never given any nutrients, and the RRF did better there than in my 60L that does get some nutrients, and has a light, and for which I use sponge filters. I did wonder if it was the very still conditions. Aside from that it can only be the natural sunlight from the skylight. Sorry, nothing scientific in any of this, but I was curious.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Thanks Darrel, great photographs, really illustrative.

They are great, and we need to thank @keef321 for them.

*I've edited this and I'd like to thanks @keef321 for his PM:
Further edit: I'm going to add in @keef321 's post <"Cloudy Water Hazy Water and Algae!">, because <"a picture is worth a thousand words">.

I edited them into <"We've talked about iron deficiency, but what are going to do about it?">, just because they were so useful.

I once restored for him, not with a high Nitrogen rich feed which he was using, which when it works seems to give grass a blue artificial tint, but with good old sequestered iron tonic.

The blue colour sounds like <"luxury absorption">. You can see it on the far right of the <"Leaf Color Chart"> (Rice Oryza sativa is also a grass). I'd guess the improved grass growth, with <"sequestered iron">, is back to the <"assembly line nature of plant growth">.

The technical botany biology you use I fear might just be a little bit beyond me, sorry ....... I never did chemistry O level, and the biology I did at O level was I fear, looking back, maybe a bit basic.

That is one reason why I like the Duckweed Index, it is a visual method and doesn't <"require any prior knowledge">, just the ability to differentiate between <"different shades of green">.

cheers Darrel