2 Inches of Rain and it is Still Coming Down; Plant Tissue Tests

It has been raining like crazy for the last 24 hours.  Two inches so far in the pumpkin patch.  I like a good rain, but this is a little too much.

I got my tissue test report back just now.  I'm glad I sent it in because what has been going on makes a little more sense now, although some of the numbers are a little surprising.    I sent in two leaf stalks on Friday and the lab gave me a pretty detailed report along with recommendations. In the spring I sent in a soil sample and had it tested so I know what my soil had it and I amended it accordingly.  The interesting thing is that you can be very high in something like magnesium and get a tissue test and it will show magnesium low in the plant.   That will be somewhat explained later.

My soil was high in sulfur, phosphorus and nitrogen in the spring.  My tissue test shows low numbers for each of those items.  Some of this I can't explain very well.  Others I know are being blocked from being taken up by the roots because other nutrients that are a little too high in quantity are taking up the cations or places that they can be absorbed by the roots.

The tissue test also showed I was low for zinc, manganese and copper.  Those I'm traditionally low in and apply foliar applications to help with that.

What I'll be doing over the next few weeks is applying regular foliar applications of nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, zinc, manganese and iron.  I'll also apply some blood meal to the soil to increase the nitrogen.

This tissue test explains what I've been seeing in the plants.  The lighter colored leaves near the vine tips is from a lack of nitrogen and magnesium.  It is more pronounced right now with all of the rain going on because nitrogen and magnesium are hard for the plant to uptake with the saturated soil.

This evening I did an application of fish & seaweed.  With all of this rain I don't want to over do it but I also wanted to correct these deficiencies right away to get the pumpkins growing better.