How to Treat Nitrogen Deficiency in Plants

You've determined that your vegetables or other plants are suffering from nitrogen deficiency. Now you need to treat the problem in a positive way so you can get the yield from your crop that you've expected all season. Here's how to treat nitrogen deficiency so you have as many tomatoes as you can sell at the farmer's market.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Soil test kit
• Nitrogen-rich fertilizer
• Well-rotted manure

1. Test the soil components. Having your soil tested is important to confirm nitrogen and other nutrient deficiencies as well. You can get a soil test kit at your local garden center.

2. Determine what type of plants have nitrogen deficiency because this will determine the course of treatment. Be sure to follow the treatment plan for the type of plants affected.

3. Treat trees by applying nitrogen-rich fertilizer the following spring. If this only affecting your fruit trees, then wait until next spring and apply the nitrogen-rich fertilizer to minimize the chance of fertilizer burn.

4. Apply nitrogenous fertilizer to your vegetable plants as a side dressing. This may help increase your yield and avoid fertilizer burn.

5. Integrate nitrogen-rich fertilizer into the soil where you'll plant your vegetables the following spring as well. Choose a well-balanced fertilizer such as "Tomatoes Alive" by Gardens Alive, which has the added benefit of being an organic fertilizer.

6. Try applying well-rotted manure to your garden bed as well, which tends to be nitrogen rich. You may also use any fertilizer that has nitrate, ammonium or urea in the formulation.