Turn Plant Sap Into Nutrient Guidance
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Seasonal Insights: Fall
Nutrient problems that build up during summer often show themselves clearly as crops finish the season. Here’s what to watch for in fall:
Calcium Deficiency in Fruits
Critical window: From fruit set through rapid fruit expansion (spring → mid-summer).
Why: Calcium moves with water in the xylem but not in the phloem, so once tissues form, Ca can’t be relocated. Late fruit relies only on what was supplied earlier.
Best practice:
Monitor Ca early and mid-season (before rapid fruit enlargement).
Correct with foliar sprays or soil management before fruit growth locks in tissue structure.
If left too late: Symptoms (bitter pit, bruising) show only at harvest or storage — too late to fix.
Potassium Deficiency
Critical window: Tuber bulking (potatoes, beets), pod/grain fill (cereals, legumes) → late summer into fall.
Why: K drives sugar transport into storage organs. Demand spikes as plants fill roots/tubers/seeds.
Best practice:
Monitor K pre-bulking / pre-grain fill (just before reproductive growth stages).
Maintain adequate soil solution K; adjust with top-dressing or fertigation if dropping.
If left too late: Plants may look okay vegetatively but deliver poor sugar levels or low test weight at harvest.
Boron Deficiency
Critical window: Flowering through fruit/seed development (summer).
Why: Boron is immobile inside plants, so a continuous supply is needed. Deficiencies show up fast during reproductive growth.
Best practice:
Monitor B just before flowering and during fruit set.
Because it’s immobile, supplement throughout the season (foliar or fertigation) if levels drop.
If left too late: You’ll see poor fruit set, misshapen fruit, or brown spots inside produce → losses can’t be corrected after symptoms appear.
