BIO 43 - PLANT PHYSIOLOGY

Exercise II. Mineral Nutrition Deficiency Symptoms

SUBIMTTED TO: Mr. PERCY MARK SIENES

Laboratory Instructor

SUBMITTED BY: JAIKA DE JESUS YBER

BS Biology IV
Abstract

All plants require 17 elements to complete their life cycle, and an additional four elements have

been identified as essential for some plants (Havlin et al. 2005). In this activity, Kangkon (Ipomea

aquatica) a vegetable commonly found in the Philippines was used to help us understand the

growth development of this plant without certain macronutrients or micronutrients. A technique

known as hydroponics is used in which the kangkong plant was cultured in a liquid solution to observe

the effects of mineral deficiency on the growth of the plant.

Introduction

Plants depend on the soil which exert significant direct and indirect influences on the supply

and availability of most nutrient elements where they can uptake nutrients needed for their growth

and metabolic.

Kangkong is a vegetable that is rich in iron (as shown in its blackish liquid once cooked), beta

carotene (precursor of vitamin A), vitamins C and B (folic acid). The plant has slick surfaced leaves

which are arrowhead-shaped, 5-6 inches long, narrow, and pointed. It is a trailing hollow vine with

alternate leaves and vertical branches arising at the leaf axils. The succulent foliage is light green in color.

It produces a white flower, followed by a four-seeded pod.

Hydroponics is a means to grow plants in the absence of soil. According to Nebel and Wright on

their article on the Environmental Science, plants do not really require any secret ingredients from the

soil. All they need to flourish are inorganic nutrients, water, and aeration. In this system, roots are watered

with a well-aerated water solution in a constant manner. The solution contains optimal amounts of the

required mineral nutrients.

The nutrient solution gives the vegetables a near-optimal supply of mineral nutrients. The

preferable pH level of 5.5 – 6.0 is maintained by adding sulfuric acid especially if the pH level of the
solution rises above 7.8. Seven bottles were used containing different elements. Bottle 1 was the control

bottle, Bottle 2 lacks nitrate, Bottle 3 has no calcium in it, Bottle 4 with no magnesium , Bottle 5 contains

all the others except Phosphate. Bottle 6 has no trace metals and Bottle 7 lacks iron.

Methods

The samples of Ipomea aquatica were obtained from the public market of Dumaguete

City. Fresh, healthy, and long enough to touch the bottom of the bottes kangkong samples are

highly necessary for this activity to see the major changes or deficiency symptoms as it grows for

the next six weeks. The macronutrients stocks were Nitrogen (KNO3), Calcium [ Ca(NO3)2-

4H2O], Magnesium (MgSO4-7H2O), and Phosphorus (KH2P4). The micronutrients stock was a

mixture of non-metal nutrients of H3BO3, MnCl2-4H2O, ZnSO4-7H2O, CuSO4-5H2O, and

H2MoO2-H2O. Another micronutrient that is part of the modified Hoagland's nutrient solution is

the Iron (Fe) which contains NaEDTA and FeSO4-7H2O. Six beakers are needed to separate, and

hold the four different macronutrient stocks and the two different micronutrient stocks.

This exercise used stock solutions for modified Hoagland’s nutrient solution with the formula

V1C1=V2C2.When the modified Hoagland's nutrient solutions were prepared, the materials and

apparatuses were gathered: 7 large bottles (1L or above), 1L beaker, stirring rod, micropipettes,

bulb, liquid detergent, distilled water, aluminum foil, masking tape, permanent marker, funnel,

and kangkong.

First, the 7 1L bottles were thoroughly rinsed liquid detergent and tap water. The bottles

were then labeled to not get confused. Bottles were labeled accordingly: control, no nitrate, no

calcium, no magnesium, no phosphorus, no micronutrients of trace metals, and no iron. For the
control, it contains all nutrients given in the modified Hoagland's nutrient solution. As for the

rest, it contains all the other minerals except the mineral that is labeled on the bottle.

The micropipettes and bulb were used to transfer the nutrients from the main stocks into a

1L needed to make the different mixtures. Distilled water was added to the mixture to make it

constitute to 1L of water. This is done so that the solution will be evenly distributed and the new

solution will not easily evaporate at once. Once mixture is done, a funnel was used to carefully

pour the solutions into the bottle. The 1L beaker was always rinsed with distilled water before

proceeding on making the next mixture.

After filling all the bottles, the kangkong samples were placed into the bottle leaving

about half of the plant outside the bottle for the apex to be exposed to the sunlight for growth.

The bottles were then sealed with newspaper to avoid other outside materials from contaminating

the solution. The bottles containing the samples were left in an undisturbed area for six weeks in

the balcony of the bio department.

During the six weeks, the following features were observed every seven days: height of

the plant, internode length, number of leaves, position of healthy leaves (newly-formed or old),

condition of terminal apex, color/appearance of leaves, abnormalities. Each sample was also

photographed to keep track of the changes seen in the plant.

RESULTS

Initial Measurements

Plant Overall Condition Average No. of Leaf Color Position Abnormalities

No. Height of Internode Leaves of

(cm) Terminal Length Healthy

Apex (cm) Leaves

(newly-

formed or

old)

1. 47.2 Healthy 4.4 9 Green Old & None

Control New

2. -Na 39.5 Healthy 4.6 7 Green Old & None

New

3. -Ca 44.6 Healthy 4.0 8 Green Old & None

New

4. -Mg 58.6 Healthy 4.1 11 Green Old & None

New

5. -P 50.7 Healthy 3.8 8 Green Old & None

New

6. - 49.2 Healthy 5.6 7 Green Old & None

Micro New

7. -Fe 57.9 Healthy 4.6 9 Green Old & None

New
 Week 1

Plant Overall Condition Internode No. of Leaf Color Position Abnormalities

No. Height of Length Leaves of

(cm) Terminal (cm) Healthy

Apex Leaves

(newly-

formed or

old)

1. 49.0 Healthy 3.9 9 Some green Old & Interveinal

Control and some New chlorosis

light green

2. -Na 51.2 Healthy 4.7 5 Most dark Old & Damaged petiole

green New

3. -Ca 48.3 Healthy 5.5 7 Green Old & None

New

4. -Mg 40.6 Healthy 4.2 8 Green New Wrinkled leaves

5. -P 45.6 Healthy 5.8 6 Dark green New Damaged

with yellow petioles, necrotic

spots spots, and i

interveinal

chlorosis

6. - 54.9 Healthy 4.7 7 Light green Old & Necrotic spots

Micro New
7. -Fe 58.8 Healthy 5.2 9 Light green Old & Necrotic spots

New

Week 2

Plant Overall Condition Internode No. of Leaf Color Position Abnormalities

No. Height of Length Leaves of

(cm) Terminal (cm) Healthy

Apex Leaves

(newly-

formed or

old)

1. 73.6 Healthy 6.5 8 Light green Old & Chlorosis

Control New

2. -Na 61.6 Healthy 5.1 4 Dark green Old & Necrotic spots

with brown New

spots

3. -Ca 56.2 Healthy 6.0 6 Dark green Old & Necrotic spots

with light New

green and

black spots

4. -Mg 58.0 Healthy 4.9 4 Dark green New Wrinkled new

with brown leaves

tip

5. -P 37.9 Healthy 6.0 5 Dark green Old & Necrotic spots

with yellow New

 and brown

spots

6. - 81.6 Healthy 4.7 7 Light and Old & Necrotic spots

Micro dark green New

with yellow

and brown

spots

7. -Fe 31.8 Healthy 3.1 8 Mostly New Chlorosis

yellow

Week 3

Plant No. Overall Condition Internode No. of Leaf Color Position Abnormalities

Height of Length Leaves of

(cm) Terminal (cm) Healthy

Apex Leaves

(newly-

formed or

old)

1. 94.5 Healthy 5.8 10 Light green Old & Necrotic tip

Control with brown New

edges

2. -Na 56.3 Healthy 4.8 5 Light green Old & Necrotic spots

with light New

yellow spots
3. -Ca 60.2 Healthy 6. 3 Dark green New Necrotic spots

with black

spots

4. -Mg 60.8 Healthy 5.4 4 Light green New Chlorosis

5. -P 40.4 Healthy 4.0 0 N/A N/A N/A

N/A = 71.2 Healthy 9.1 7 Dark green Old Interveinal

not and yellow chlorosis

available

6. -Micro

7. -Fe 43.9 Healthy 3.4 4 Dark green Old & Chlorosis

New

Week 4

Plant Overall Condition Internode No. of Leaf Color Position Abnormalities

No. Height of Length Leaves of

(cm) Terminal (cm) Healthy

Apex Leaves

(newly-

formed or

old)

1. 82.0 Healthy 5.5 8 Light green Old & Chlorosis

Control New

2. -Na 37.0 Healthy 4.0 3 Yellow, None Chlorosis

brown, and

green
3. -Ca 56.0 Unhealthy 6.5 3 Light green Old Chlorosis

and yellow

4. -Mg 53.2 Unhealthy 4.1 3 Pale green New Chlorosis

5. -P 30.3 Healthy 4.3 1 Green and None Chlorosis

pale green

6. - 68.0 Unhealthy 9.5 6 Green and None Chlorosis

Micro pale green

7. -Fe 43.3 Unhealthy 3.2 0 N/A N/A N/A

Week 5

Plant No. Overall Condition Internode No. of Leaf Color Position Abnormalities

Height of Length Leaves of

(cm) Terminal (cm) Healthy

Apex Leaves

(newly-

formed or

old)

1. 75.5 Unhealthy 6.2 4 Yellow Old Chlorosis

Control

2. -Na 27.8 Unhealthy 3.9 1 Yellow Old Chlorosis

brown

3. -Ca 40.7 Unhealthy 6.1 3 Yellow Old Chlorosis

brown

4. -Mg 46.8 Unhealthy 5.1 3 Yellow Old Chlorosis

brown
 5. -P 39.3 Unhealthy 5.0 0 N/A N/A N/A

N/A = 68.2 Unhealthy 7.7 2 Yellow Old Chlorosis

not brown

available

6. -Micro

7. -Fe 42.4 Unhealthy 3.4 0 N/A N/A N/A

DISCUSSION

Therefore, many nutrient deficiencies may look similar. It is important to know what a plant

species looks like when it is healthy in order to recognize symptoms of distress.

The results of each sample definitely showed deficiency symptoms yellowing, distorting of leaves

and wilting. Most of the changes in growth is visible to from week 1 to week 4. Bottle 1 (control) showed

mostly signs of chlorosis but showed the greatest growth of all samples since it maintained to be the

longest length in height until the fifth week. Samples 2 to 7 (-N, -Ca, - Mg, -P, -Micros, and -Fe) first

showed reduction in leaves, dead spots and patches. Yellowing occurred between of the leaves and its

veins. Sample 4 (-Mg), sample 6(-micros), and sample 7 (-Fe) showed signs of chlorosis first among

others with darkened and stunted leaves.

CONCLUSION

Plants need the right combination of nutrients to live, grow and reproduce. When plants suffer

from malnutrition, they show symptoms of being unhealthy. Too little or too much of any one nutrient

can cause problems. A number of deficiency symptoms were evident throughout the study. A factor that

should have been significantly considered was the state of the Kangkong sampled. If the macronutrient
or micronutrient does not meet the necessary amount, they show deficiency symptoms such as

necrosis, chlorosis, curling, or purpling of plant parts.

References

Guide to Symptoms of Plant Nutrient Deficiencies (1999). Retrieved from

https://extension.arizona.edu/sites/extension.arizona.edu/files/pubs/az1106.pdf

Nabors, M.W. 2004. Botany: An Introductory Approach. Pearson Education Inc., San Francisco,

California.

Prasad, K. N., Shivamurthy, G. R., & Aradhya, S. M. 2008. Ipomoea aquatica, an underutilized green

leafy vegetable: a review. International Journal of Botany