I have a Kingston Black apple that has some weird developmental disorder going on and it has put out shoots with leaves that don’t seem to grow to full size. I planted it it from a pot this spring and it’s first growth was normal but now it is only growing these small leaves.
It almost reminds me of some sort of auxin herbicide damage (2,4-D, dicamba etc) but I haven’t sprayed any auxins in that area and I would figure drift from my neighbors yard would also show up on my other trees. (His lawn service generally does a decent job of keeping his lawn free of weeds, so I sort of doubt they are whole-sale spraying herbicides.)
I also just got back a soil report saying my soil is very low in zinc.
Could low Zn be it? Has anyone else had issues with zinc deficiency showing up like this?
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Looks more like boron deficiency to me, however, low zinc can suppress uptake of boron so it might be both.
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Zn is was on the very low side and boron was on the lower side. So it could be a bit of both.
This “Soil Savvy” test kit lab results were based on some proprietary ion exchange resin extraction. So it is very hard to compare these results with 99% of the extension service soil test results that use Mehlich-3 (common here for ag). Our local extension does not offer soil testing any more so this was the easiest option (purchased the kit online).
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PH is a tad high which distinctly affects uptake of iron and zinc. From what I can see, it looks like a micronutrient supplement with zinc and boron should address most of the problems. You mention that it is in a container. Is this a black container? Black plastic absorbs heat to such an extent that I avoid using it except in the greenhouse where I can control exposure to sunlight.
You might enjoy reading this. Crops do not use a large quantity of phosphorus, but what they do use is most important and the supply must be good
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It was in a container, where it was doing OK, but developed the symptoms after being planted into the ground early this spring.
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Yeah, high pH and/or iron chlorosis is a thing in our neighborhood. Pin oaks in yards here are often chloritic.
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Purple stems on plants are often a sign of potassium deficiency. Even though the soil has plenty, it may not be available to the roots due to temperature. I don’t think temperature is an issue in this case, but your soil test does indicate low levels of NPK. It is particularly difficult to fertilize with a good N source as high amounts of N block absorption of K. I purchase a fertilizer from Walmart that has a good balance of NPK plus micronutrients. They usually carry it in-store. It can also be used as a foliar feed for most plants.
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