# N vs K deficiency symptoms



## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

Comparing these two, what are the differences? I'm a bit confused.

Which one causes leaves to fall off and brittle stems that break away?


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## yildirim (Nov 25, 2004)

You may check the table at http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_nutrient.htm


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

Yeah, I looked at that before, I was just trying to compile a more in depth analysis of these deficienies.


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

*Nitrogen (N) deficiency *is marked by yellow/light greenish-yellow growth on mostly the old leaves, but is noticable on new growth also. When my amazon sword was experiencing this I dosed extra Seachem Nitrogen and the colors perked up and turned to a bright green (normal color) after a week or two.

*Potassium deficiencies (K)* is marked with yellow leaves too, but is distinquished by those little holes, that show up as little brown spots, and then become as big as the tip of a ball point pen. _Ludwigia repens_ often show K deficiencies in their old leaves with browning holes and yellowish leaves. When adding KNO3 the leaves perked up, but the holes remained. Eventually they would fall off or I would pluck them off.

I think both deficiencies causes leaves to fall off the stem eventually. As a result the stem slowly decays too.

-John N.


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

Ahh.. Now I see, but in low light, that happens to plants too, what are some indications of low light?


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

All my tanks have good light with them except one. I guess I'll report on what happening with there. No growth. Currently after a few months in low light/no light my wisteria leaves are starting to curl and are bright green/yellow. Rotala Vietnam in the same tank doesn't turn pink and stays very small, and doesn't bloom out. The whole stem and leaves are dark to light brown. Maybe that's an indication of what happens under low light with plants. Hopefully some one else could validate this observation as well with other plants in low/no light.

-John N.


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

So what is this deficiency here?


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## yildirim (Nov 25, 2004)

I have the same appereance at some of my rotalas and the only 2 reason in my case are:

1. Shading, because it is in a jungle formation in my tank and starting from the mid, going to down shading increases and leaves suffer a lot from this.
2. Gettin old, because when I trim the top, I plant it to elsewhere but continue keeping the bottom. It grows again and I trim the top parts again and it goes on and after some time the old bottom part gets the same appereance.
But in both cases plants never die and continue to grow.


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

So maybe its the light or too much trimming?


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

I think it's a lighting issue. My Rotala does the same thing when it got overly shaded when the L.Repens grew out and blocked the light. The upper portions in your pictures seem to sprout out healthy growth. If their were deficiencies you'll see them occur in the new growth as well.

-John N.


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

It's under a 28 watt right now, should I bump it to 40?


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

Well if you bump it up to 40, you might encounter other algae problems as you know, and your system might create deficiencies with the increase plant metabolism.

It looks like the tops are healthy and vibrant, if this is your only problem, maybe it's a good idea just to hide the viewable lower portions with another plant.

-John N.


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

Well I've had 40watts before, just had to keep the N in touch. But 40 watts on a 10g is not high light.


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