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Iron (Fe) : Content in Plants

Iron plays an important role in plants, especially in photosynthesis and chlorophyll formation. The sufficiency range for iron in plant leaves is 50-100 mg/kg, with deficiency symptoms including loss of green color. Iron deficiency is difficult to correct once developed and can be confused with deficiencies of other elements. In hydroponic systems, iron concentration should be maintained at 2-3 mg/L, using a chelated form such as FeDTPA to ensure availability. Plants can utilize both ionic and chelated forms of iron.

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Vlad Dascalu
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40 views

Iron (Fe) : Content in Plants

Iron plays an important role in plants, especially in photosynthesis and chlorophyll formation. The sufficiency range for iron in plant leaves is 50-100 mg/kg, with deficiency symptoms including loss of green color. Iron deficiency is difficult to correct once developed and can be confused with deficiencies of other elements. In hydroponic systems, iron concentration should be maintained at 2-3 mg/L, using a chelated form such as FeDTPA to ensure availability. Plants can utilize both ionic and chelated forms of iron.

Uploaded by

Vlad Dascalu
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© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Iron (Fe)

Content in Plants
The sufficiency range for Fe in leaf tissue for most plants is from 50 to 100 mg/kg (ppm) of the dry matter; the so-called critical concentration is 50 mg/ kg (ppm). More than 75% of the Fe in plants is located in the chloroplast. Iron is stored in plants as a ferric phosphoprotein called phytoferritin. Iron accumulates in plants without any apparent deleterious effect; therefore, it is not unusual to find Fe concentrations in excess of many hundreds of mg/kg (ppm). Total Fe in the plant may be of little importance, somewhat similar to Ca in that the soluble or labile concentration determines sufficiency. Special tests have been developed to measure this form of Fe in plant tissue (BarAkiva et al., 1978; Bar-Akiva, 1984). Other extraction procedures have been proposed for determining the active Fe content in leaf tissue (Jones, 2001). Iron plant chemistry is complex, and the relationship between tissue content and function is not clearly understood.

Function
Iron plays a significant role in various energy transfer functions in the plant due to ease of valence change (Fe2+ = Fe3+ + e). Iron also has an important role in the photosynthesis process and in the formation of the chlorophyll molecule. It also has the tendency to form chelate complexes. Other exact roles are not clearly known.

Deficiency Symptoms
One of the symptoms of Fe deficiency is a loss of the plants green color due to the loss of chlorophyll, a green pigment compound. Although the appearance of Fe deficiency is not too dissimilar to that of Mg, an Fe deficiency symptom first appears in the younger plant tissue, whereas Mg deficiency symptoms first appear in the older tissue. Iron deficiency symptoms are not always clearly distinct and can be easily confused with other elemental deficiencies, as deficiencies of S, Mn, and Zn frequently produce leaf and plant symptoms that are not easily differentiated visually from those of Fe; therefore, the importance of confirming an Fe deficiency by means of a plant analysis or tissue test is underscored (see page 319324). Iron deficiency, once developed in the plant, is very difficult to correct. There is evidence that in some instances Fe deficiency may be genetically controlled, with specific individual plants incapable of normal Fe metabolism and therefore unresponsive to correction by foliar Fe application. Some plant species, as well as individuals within a species, can respond to Fe-deficient conditions as their roots release H+ ions to acidify the area immediately surrounding the root and/or release Fe-complexing substances (i.e., siderophores). Plants that are able to modify their immediate root environment have been designated Fe efficient and those that cannot as Fe-inefficient. Although the use of Fe chelates has markedly improved the control of Fe deficiency, deficiency correction is still a major problem in many crops and growing situations. Iron deficiency may be easier to control hydroponically than in other systems of growing. Soilless culture systems that employ an organic rooting medium are particularly susceptible to Fe deficiency. This difficulty will be discussed in greater detail later. In rapidly growing tomato plants, the author has observed Fe deficiency

symptoms on new growth, with the symptoms slowly disappearing with maturity. Evidently, the movement of Fe into newly emerging leaf tissue is insufficient to prevent the visual symptom from appearing, but eventually, sufficient Fe reaches the developing tissue, and the deficiency symptom disappears.

Concentration in a Nutrient Solution


Normally, the Fe concentration must be maintained at about 2 to 3 mg/L (ppm) in the nutrient solution to prevent deficiency. Iron in solution exists as either the ferric (Fe3+) or ferrous (Fe2+) cation, depending on the characteristics of the nutrient solution. There may be sufficient Fe in a nutrient solution, depending on the water source and contact with Fe-based piping and other similar materials, to satisfy the plant requirement. Most hydroponic formulas call for the use of a chelated form of Fe to ensure that its presence in the nutrient solution is maintained in an available form. Although iron ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (FeEDTA) has been widely used as an Fe source, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) is toxic to plants (Rengel, 2002), and therefore the diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) chelate form is recommended, although its possible toxicity to plants has yet to be determined. Other forms of chelated Fe are iron hydroxyethylethylenediaminetriacetic acid (FeHEDTA) and iron ethylenediamine-di(o-hydroxyphenylacetiz) acid (FeEDDHA) as well as the double salt forms, sodium iron hydroxyethylethylenediaminetriacetic acid (NaFeHEEDTA), sodium iron ethylenediaminedi(o-hydroxyphenylacetic) acid (NaFeEDDHA), and sodium iron dethylenetriaminepentaacetate (NaFeDTPA). However, these forms of Fe chelates are seldom used in nutrient solution formulations. Iron easily complexes with many substances, which makes Fe concentration difficult to maintain in a nutrient solution or soilless medium. In addition, if the pH of the rooting medium is greater than 6.5, Fe availability decreases sharply. Since Fe is a common contaminant found nearly everywhere, it may be naturally present in sufficient concentration to prevent deficiency.

Forms of Utilization
Plants can use either the ionic form, although that taken in as ferric-Fe (Fe3+), which must be reduced to the ferrous (Fe2+) form. Ferric-Fe can form complexes and precipitates quite easily in the nutrient solution, thereby reducing its concentration and, therefore, availability to plants. It is evident that the chemistry of Fe in the nutrient solution and its uptake by plants are quite complex. In addition, utilization of Fe varies among plant species, as some have the ability to alter the character of the nutrient solution in the immediate vicinity of their roots, thereby influencing Fe availability. Such influences and their effect on plants are discussed in Chapter 4.

Nutrient Solution Reagents


Although FeEDTA is still listed in nutrient solution formulations, FeDTPA is the recommended chelated form since EDTA can be toxic to plants (Rengel, 2002). Other Fe sources are inorganic compounds, which are also suitable for use in nutrient solution formulations and were in common use before the chelated Fe forms were available. These Fe compounds are iron (ferrous) sulfate, FeSO47H2O; iron (ferric) sulfate, Fe2(SO4)3; iron (ferric) chloride, FeCl36H2O; and iron ammonium sulfate, FeSO4(NH4)2SO46H2O. Two organic

Fe compounds suitable for use in nutrient solution formulations are iron citrate and iron tartrate. As a general rule, it takes more Fe when in these inorganic/ organic forms to provide the same level of available Fe as compared to the chelated forms. The author has had excellent results from just adding Fe filings to the rooting medium if it is sand, fine gravel, or perlite.

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