which mineral seems to be deficient in my Heliconia?

[dave1980]

Hello everybody.

i grew this Heliconia in pot and a few years ago even had flowers. but now......
after i ch@nged the soil with fresh soil, the plant grew great with nice big leaves.

i am very carefull with fertiliser so i used a Reviver mix, whic only contains micro elements as fe,ca,bo,mg,mo etc. and NPK 1-0-0

now:

- new leaves are narrow, smaller and bright in colour.
- some shoots produce wrinkled leaves whis are deformed
- older leaves get brown edges and starts to turn yellow

now i was very carefull with fertilizer, so i dont think it a nutr. burn. But are these symptoms because
i gave NPK 1-0-0 with only a save amount o& micronutrients.

what deficiency do you see, or is it more then one deficiency and do i need to apply
a normal fertilizer with proper NPK? even than i am curious what is deficient right now.

hopw you can help me

picture 1: brown edges and stunt growth. new leaves are narrow, small and bright green
on the right of picture 1, you can see i allready cut away alot of older leaves.

picture 2: brown and yellowing of edges. also the leaf gets yellow. ( potassium deficiency?)
slowly the entire leaf, turns yellow. No new leaves develop. Not even on the new shoots.
picture 3: new shoots develop slow, and give wrinkled and misshapen leaves. ( ca deficiency)?

really hope somebody can figure out what all is deficient so i can learn to recognize the symptoms
on heliconia

 

[usmankhanb4u]

Hi , have you checked its drainage , the soil should not be too wet always , can b over watering , or it can be over fed or can be out of space , few reasons i can think of beside that
, you can also see this index if it helps you diagnose other issues
Diseases of Heliconia in Hawaii
https://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/RES-159.pdf

 

[dave1980]

Drainage seems well. I only water when really needed and let the water run out of the bottom holes.
Roots are visible when taking out of the pot and looked healthy. But this could be rootbound? It isn't very tight in the pot but it formed a clump of roots.

What nutrient do you think? What does your feeling tells you?

Thanks for the link

 

[dave1980]

Checked the link. I recognized it and visited before.

 

[Becky]

I agree that it could be a water problem. Heliconia is native to hot humid climates, and unlike lots of other houseplants it is happiest when the soil is kept damp. Try watering it little and often and see if that helps. Also if your air is dry (which it can be at this time of year) you could also consider getting a humidifier.

 

[dave1980]

So these wrinkled leaves are caused because of to dry soil?
Even the bright green colour of the leaves?

If it's a water problem I will water more often. So no deficiencies because
Of NPK 1-0-0 ?

Please remember it didn't get any P-K

 

[Becky]

I'm no expert on mineral deficiencies, but under/over watering is a very common culprit for these kind of problems. If you are concerned about the quality of the soil you could always get a soil testing kit, they are easy to find online

 

[dave1980]

OK .I think the chance is bigger that its underwater. I was afraid of rootrot so I gave water when
The upper layer felt dry. But underneath the surface it was always damp

So if the soil is too dry it is impossible to transport the nutrients from the soil?
I can continue the NPK 1-0-0 FERTILIZER ?

 

[dave1980]

You were right.
I checked the roots better. One pot I forgot to check.

Most roots were black. I removed all the death material and cleaned it. Cut off the plant until a few CM above the ground. I kept the soil dry. Is it wise to add some root stimulator or should I let it rest?

The rhizomes were not affected and it tried to create small, new roots. ( just two )

I also put it in smaller pots with new, dry soil.

Any more advice? I will wait for new shoots and only water when the plants are really thirsty. Even i have water sporadically, the soil was wet at the bottom of the pot.

 

[DirtMechanic]

Get a thermometer that tracks the min and max temp and has humidity. It is a plant out of place, and your pic tells me the cool of the winter can penetrate that window. 50 degrees or warmer might be a challenge since the glass emits or loses more than 90 percent of the heat unless it is a low emission coated glass.