Kiwi fruit is very nutritious, containing plenty of arginine, having a good effective on reducing the morbidity of coronary heart disease, hypertension, myocardial infarct and arteriosclerosis. However, the nutritious value will be reduced when kiwi fruit lacks of manganese sulfate.
Manganese deficiency can be found in Mn <30ppm plant and the high pH soils such as pH≥6.8.
Symptoms:
Manganese deficiency produces a light green-yellow interveinal chlorosis which appears first on new leaves but in severe cases it may affect almost all leaves on a plant. As the deficiency becomes more pronounced, the zone of healthy tissue recedes even further towards the veins so that eventually only the veins remain green.
Remedial measure:
1. For the alkalinity soil, this condition can be corrected by applying acidic fertilizer such as ammonium sulfate, ammonium nitrate and organic fertilizers to reduce the pH of soil. Thus, more available Mn will be released from the low pH soil.
2. Apply manganese sulfate solutions with the concentration of 0.3%-0.5% for three times, once per half a month.
Keeping low pH soil or by spraying manganese sulfate solutions can prevent kiwifruit from manganese deficiency effectively.
