I had some of my beds with a ph as high as 7.4 and none under 7.1 three years ago and had terrible problems with iron deficiency in my tomatoes and peppers for a while. Most other crops did really good and my tomatoes and peppers did fine most of the time but I had to frequently give them iron supplements by foliar spray and soil drench as well. This has become less of a problem as my beds ph has gone down some due to the soil amendments I have added. I also have a problem of too much Phosphorous bound up in my soil so my soil tests show extremely high P yet my peppers have to have a dose of vinegar and water so more of it is available for them. If I don't give my peppers a couple of drinks of vinegar water they will barely set fruit.
I planted tomatoes in the one bed that I haven't used since testing and finding my ph so high so it has not had the benefit of the ph lowering amendments. I noticed yesterday the distinct signs of iron deficiency in that bed only. I gave all the plants a foliar iron supplement, an iron rich soil drench and a little vinegar water to help release both iron and P this afternoon. I hope I am not too late in attempting to correct this condition. Below are some pics I took before treating the plants. The extreme yellowing in the new growth if not stopped will get worse and eventually kill all the new growth and ultimately the whole plant will die. I know because I have seen it happen numerous times. The last photo is of one of my other beds that is totally unaffected. Both were planted on the same day and given the same exact treatment as far as water, fertilizer and etc.
I will check them every day and see how they are progressing. If I got the iron to them quickly enough the yellowing will fade but if I was too late it will get worse until that yellow is almost white at which point the growth will start dying.
Bill
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