Tone Ag Consulting Ltd.

While looking for information on possible manganese deficiency in wheat Tone Ag Consulting is scouting, I ran across Yellow Wheat Part II – Causes and Corrections. In it Keith Reid describes a simple field test for identifying nutrient deficiencies in the field.

Mix ½ teaspoon of nutrient with water in a one liter hand spray bottle, adding two drops of a spreader sticker (dish soap will work in a pinch). Lightly wet foliage with the mixture in one metre strips in the affected area(s), marking the sprayed area with flags. If the crop responds to the application within 48 hours, you have identified the problem.

I expect that the squirt test would only work for nutrients that can be taken up by the foliage. Now the next step is to find out what crops respond to foliar applications of various nutrients to develop a master list for testing.