1. Plants’ Essential Elements
Macro and Micronutrients

2. Nutrients MACRO-required in relatively large amounts
MICRO-required in small amounts, minor or trace elements

3. Macro: non-mineral elements
Carbon (C)
Hydrogen (H)
Oxygen (O)

4. Macro: primary nutrients
Nitrogen (N)
Phosphorus (P)
Potassium (K)

5. Macro: secondary nutrients
Calcium (Ca)
Magnesium (Mg)
Sulfur (S)

6. Micronutrients Iron (Fe) Copper (Cu) Zinc (Zn) Boron (B)
Molybdenum (Mo)
Manganese (Mn)
Chlorine (Cl)

7. Nitrogen Promotes growth of leaves and stems
Gives dark green color and improves quality of foliage
Necessary to develop cell proteins and chlorophyll

8. Nitrogen Deficiency noted when leaves are a sick, yellow-green color
Short stems, small leaves, pale colored leaves and flowers
Slow and dwarfed plant growth

9. Phosphorus Stimulates early formation and growth of roots
Provides fast and vigorous growth and speeds maturity
Stimulates flowering and seed development

10. Phosphorus Symptoms of deficiency include slow maturity
Older leaves are a purplish color
Decrease in growth

11. Potassium Used to form carbohydrates and proteins
Formation and transfer of starches, sugars, and oils
Increases disease resistance, vigor, and hardiness

12. Potassium
Deficiency symptoms include mottled, spotted, streaked or curled leaves
Scorched, burned, dead leaf tips and margins

13. Calcium Improves plant vigor
Influences intake and synthesis of other plant nutrients
Important part of cell walls

14. Calcium
Symptoms of deficiency include small developing leaves, wrinkled older leaves
Dead stem tips

15. Magnesium Influences the intake of other essential nutrients
Helps make fats
Assists in translocation of phosphorus and fats

16. Magnesium
Deficiency symptoms include interveinal chlorosis-yellowing of leaves between green veins
Leaf tips curl or cup upward
Slender, weak stems

17. Sulfur Promotes root growth and vigorous vegetative growth
Essential to protein formation

18. Sulfur
Deficiency symptoms include young leaves are light green with lighter colored veins
Yellow leaves and stunted growth

19. Iron Essential for chlorophyll production
Helps carry electrons to mix oxygen with other elements

20. Iron
Deficiency symptoms include mottled and interveinal chlorosis in young leaves
Stunted growth and slender, short stems

21. Copper
Helps in the use of iron
Helps respiration

22. Copper
Deficiency symptoms include young leaves are small and permanently wilted
Multiple bud at stem tips

23. Zinc Helps plant metabolism function Helps form growth hormones
Aids in reproduction

24. Zinc Deficiency includes retarded growth between nodes (rosetted)
New leaves are thick and small
Spotted between veins, discolored veins

25. Boron
Affects water absorption by roots
Translocation of sugars

26. Boron Deficiency symptoms include short, thick stem tips
Young leaves of terminal buds are light green at base
Leaves become twisted and die

27. Manganese
Aids in plant metabolism
Helps in nitrogen transformation

28. Manganese Deficiency symptoms include interveinal chlorosis
Young leaves die

29. Molybdenum
Aids in plant development
Reproduction

30. Molybdenum Deficiency symptoms include stunted growth
Yellow leaves, upward curling leaves
Leaf margin burn

31. Chlorine
Essential to some plant processes
Acts in enzyme systems

32. Chlorine
Usually there are more problems with too much chlorine or toxicity than with deficiency

33. Macro and Micro Nutrients
Remember:
C Ca Fe HOPKiNS Managed By My Cuzin MoCo ClZn