Very interesting reading jag2. I only went as far as testing procedures, then skipped about down the page. Reading and absorbling that much info could make a person as immobile as Ca ! :) But I bookmarked the site to come back to later and spend more time. I've always thought that die-off on lower leaves was just a normal thing for a plant as it grows. But what I've read so far in this article indicates that that may not always be true, especially just before and during the producing time.
So thank you for your research, I certainly have more studying to do.

So thank you for your research, I certainly have more studying to do.

Don't we all!?

But still, I am appreciative that you found some value in the information and took the time to post to that effect. Thanks!

Thanks for posting, JaG. I'm looking forward to some quiet time when I can read through it leisurely. It looks like it will have lots of value for any who take the time to read it - and I hope they do, too.

Al

oo Thats a wonderful resource, thankyou. I particularily like the dicotomous key!

Hello JaG!

I have read your link, as well as other links on plant tissue analysis, to determine how the plants is doing, and what, if anything, is deficient, or in excess, in the plant. What I have gathered it that this type of analysis is mostly done by the professional grower, and maybe not so much done my the hobby gardeners, like my self.

While I may not send off for a paid service to see how my two tomato plants are doing, I would, however, send off soil samples to the state for free analysis (I think most states offer free soil analysis; I know here in NC they do). If I knew how to read the report, could the report not tell me what was deficient, or in excess, in the soil, and therefore, to a certain degree, tell me what is deficient/ in excess in the plant? For example, the report may tell me that there is plenty of N, but if the pH is out of whack, then we would know that the plant is probably not getting enough N, and we would need to adjust the pH, and not the N, in the soil (I think I got that right). Would the tissue analysis be able to tell us that the plant is not getting enough N due to a pH imbalance, or would they just say that it is deficient in N?

Am I making sense here? Instead of paying for a tissue analysis, why not get a free soil sample, and infer what is going on in the soil is the same thing going on in the plant?

. . . Or have I got it all wrong?? :o)

Thanks for any thoughts you, or anyone else, may have.

JJ

Hi JJ,

My purpose is posting the information was not to encourage people to have tissue analysis done on their own plants (unless they want to), but to assist others in understanding what nutrients veggies actually use and in the amount they use them.

In other words sometimes someone will ask a question like 'is my 10-30-10 fertilizer good for tomatos?' and by looking at the tissue analysis we can see it would be way high in P.

I think for your in ground plants a soil test is definitely a good thing to get every few years. This allows you to add whatever is not present in the amount required for what you are growing.

For containers we start out with little to nothing in the way of nutrients so our choice of fertilizer can make a large difference in whether the plant gets what it needs for optimal growth/health or not.

BTW, most soil tests will not tell you about N as it is too volatile in the soil and by the time the test results come back it will have changed.

I think you are on the right track with your thinking.

Bumping this; very helpful in determining fertilizer to use throughout the season.

Great link, JaG! I only read a few paragraphs & am already quite interested in reading the whole thing.

Well given that I posted this a year ago (May of 08) I should thank lathyrus_odoratus for bumping it to get it more attention ;)

Since last year I have learned more about tissue analysis, particularly the 'danger' in misinterpreting it. Just because the portion of the plant tested shows a certain nutrient ratio does not mean that the entire plant uses nutrients in that ratio.

While this is potentially disconcerting, as I have 'drilled down' into tissue analysis, unearthing 'esoteric' studies that look at the overall requirements of plants taking all their tissue including roots into account I find 'normal' tissue analysis pretty accurate.

Al has said it previously in his fertilizer program thread, but I will say it here: It is flat out amazing how virtually every plant on earth uses nutrients in a very similar ratio.

About the only nutrient that varies a bit is potassium. Some plants use more N than K, some use about the same and a few use a little more K than N. The rest of the nutrients, in most cases, stay about the same in terms of plant requirements. Calcium is the other nutrient that seems to vary a bit, but it's role seems less well understood.

What this means to the average grower is that fertilization of plants need not be complicated. A product like Dyna-Gro Foliage Pro, all by itself, will grow great plants from grass to tomatos to woody perennials to alpine succulents.

Some plants may do a little better with a little additional potassium and a few more with a little additional calcium, but neither are short changed enough in a complete 3:1:2 fert like FP to be a major limit on plant growth.

In other words, science has taken all those silly and often stupid fertilizers on the market and put them to shame. There really is only one fertilizer needed to adequately meet the needs of almost all plants.

Rejoice in the simplicity.

Rejoice in the simplicity.

Amen, JaG...I live by those words with my gardening.

Peace - Steve

Uh-oh, the link is no longer working! I went to verify something tonight and the page is gone!!!! I've written to them to see what's up, but in case it's gone, I'd love a copy if anyone copied it by chance. TIA.

Please let me know what they tell you, Lathyrus as I didn't save an offline copy. I searched their site, but they appear to have the file offline.

If the link is titled "Plant Tissue Analysis and Interpretation for Vegetable Crops in Florida", then it's working here/now.

yup, it's available again.

I emailed them last night in my despair; I received an email this afternoon that they have the link working again. Whew! But, this time? I'm copying it!