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Re: Java fern leaves colourless





>
>From: Chris Teichreb <teichrch at Meena_CC.URegina.CA>
>Subject: Java fern leaves colourless
>
>..<snipped>.....The problem is that the new leaves or plantlets that
>the Java fern is producing are very light in colour.  At the
>tips of the leaves, they are actually almost clear.  It's as
>though it's not manufacturing chlorophyll.  The only possibility
>I could think of is that it's due to potassium deficiency.  Can
>anyone tell me if this is what the probable cause is, or can
>you point me in the direction of what else may be going wrong?
>TIA.

The clear tips of the growing leaves is normal.  It means that the spongy
mesophyll between the upper and lower epidermis has not yet become filled
with air. Once the leaf has finished growing, the air-filled tissue goes
all the way to the tip.  The lighter-than-normal green color could be due
to iron deficiency.  I have also seen that if the Java fern is in rather
bright light, its leaves are not as dark green as those produced in dimmer
light.  Potassium deficiency symptoms should show up on the oldest leaves
first as dead spots that spread.


Paul Krombholz                  Tougaloo College, Tougaloo, MS  39174
In Mississippi where we got missed by Josephine. Rats!