Iron Chlorosis
Emerald Ash Borer, dutch elm disease, maple wilt, disease control, tree treatments
Iron Chlorosis occurs because of a PH balance problem in soil most of the time.  The low PH balance that is associated with iron chlorosis makes it hard for the tree to take in iron.  Some trees like the ones you see on the left hand side of this page need low PH balance with iron to be able to survive.  There are a couple ways to solve this problem.  If the tree is struggling it is necessary to inject iron directly into the tree as a last ditch effort to keep this disease from killing the tree.  Other methods include pouring acid around the base of the tree on a regular basis.  Another method which is more of a preventative means is to bury nails around the feeder roots in the top 6 inches of soil.  This will give the tree a better chance of pulling iron into the roots.  In large trees large ungalvanized nails have been driven into trees that need iron for slow uptake over time.

Iron chlorosis is a very serious disease and spreads through a tree pretty quickly.  The first signs of iron chlorosis that you will find are yellowing of the leaves.  The veins of the leaves will still be green but the rest of the leaf will be a yellow tint.  This will start to spread throughout the tree and the areas that showed signs of the disease first will die off.  At this stage your tree will look half dead. From there the leaf defoliation will keep on occurring until there are no leaves left.  At this point your tree has nearly met its match.

Luckily if you catch this disease in just about any stage it can be recovered fully.  Well the trees branches are still living but barely so immediate action is necessary at that point. Here are some things to look for:

  • Leaves yellowing with green veins
  • Sections dying out in tree

Treatment

In most cases where chlorosis occurs in trees it is needed to give them a direct source of iron.  This usually is in the form of a trunk injection.  Several different options are available for trunk injections with mauget being one of the industry leaders.  Spray applications and soil treatments are generally inneffective as the tree still wont be able to take up the iron.  Spraying leaves with any nutrient or fertilizer is extremely inneffective and wasteful as leaves do not absorb much through the leaves.

If you suspect your tree has iron chlorosis contact a specialist at Arbor Doctor today.