What is a symptom of iron deficiency?

What is a symptom of iron deficiency?

• A. Yellow tissue between veins, veins stay green
• B. Yellowing of older leaves first
• C. Browning/scorching leaf margins
• D. Wilting

Answer: (A)

Iron deficiency in plants shows up as interveinal chlorosis—tissue between the veins turns yellow while the veins stay green. This happens because iron is needed for chlorophyll production but isn’t readily mobile within the plant, so new growth is affected first and chlorosis appears between the veins on those young leaves. You’ll often see this pattern on new growth, with older leaves remaining green or only mildly affected. The other patterns don’t match iron deficiency: yellowing of older leaves first points to a mobile nutrient deficiency like nitrogen; browning or scorching leaf margins suggests drought, salinity, or other stress; wilting indicates water stress or root problems. When you observe yellow between green veins on new growth, iron deficiency is the likely issue, and management focuses on increasing iron availability—such as adjusting soil pH to improve iron uptake or applying chelated iron.

Iron deficiency in plants shows up as interveinal chlorosis—tissue between the veins turns yellow while the veins stay green. This happens because iron is needed for chlorophyll production but isn’t readily mobile within the plant, so new growth is affected first and chlorosis appears between the veins on those young leaves. You’ll often see this pattern on new growth, with older leaves remaining green or only mildly affected. The other patterns don’t match iron deficiency: yellowing of older leaves first points to a mobile nutrient deficiency like nitrogen; browning or scorching leaf margins suggests drought, salinity, or other stress; wilting indicates water stress or root problems. When you observe yellow between green veins on new growth, iron deficiency is the likely issue, and management focuses on increasing iron availability—such as adjusting soil pH to improve iron uptake or applying chelated iron.