Leaf Chlorosis

Have you seen trees with yellow leaves, and wondered why those leaves were not green? It turns out, the answer is not so simple (of course!). Trees have limited ways in which stress is shown, and leaves are at the front of that. The pattern of yellowing, or chlorosis, can be a good clue as to the cause.

Leaves turn yellow when they are lacking one or more of the following nutrients: nitrogen, iron, zinc, manganese and magnesium. All of those are part of chlorophyll molecules, which give the leaf its green color and which make sugars that feed the tree. 

The real question, though, is why? Why is one (or more!) of those nutrients lacking in the leaf? Here there are a number of possibilities. Maybe there just isn’t enough of that in the root zone soil. Or maybe it’s there but because of the high pH of our soils, it’s in a form that is unavailable to plants for uptake, or the soil is too dry, or too wet, or doesn’t have enough oxygen or has too much phosphorus…whew, that’s a lot of options!

Commonly, we see leaves that are yellow, but the veins remain green, standing out like the skeleton of the leaf in x-ray vision. That is usually due to a lack of iron, zinc, magnesium or manganese in the leaf. Adding nutrients to the soil in the form of an EDDHA chelated micronutrient product can often help, a service Legacy Tree Company proudly offers. 

Contact us to find out more about our Albuquerque tree removal services.