What is Nickels main function within a plant?
Nickel (Ni) is a minor component of some plant enzymes, specifically urease which converts urea nitrogen into a useable form of ammonia within the plant.
If Nickel is not present, urea can build to extreme concentrations causing pinched necrosis on the tips of leaves.
Too much Nickel affects nutrient availability and absorption by the root zone, inhibits transpiration and photosynthesis continual absence causes a disruption to the leaf formation and generally if the plant makes it to flowering the yield will be drastically reduced.
- Required in micro amounts, 1.1 parts per million (PPM)
- Nickel in excess is not good for humans! (beyond 1.1 ppm is carcinogenic)
- Nickel deficiency causes ‘Mouse Ear’ on leaflets (stunted growth)
- Nickel is magnetic (ferromagnetic)
What are the main roles of Chlorine in plants?
Although its rarely considered in plant nutrient, Chlorine (Cl) plays an important role in the opening and closing of the stomata and is essential to chemically balance the potassium ion concentrations that help increases in cells during stomata function.
Cl plays an essential role in photosynthesis, functions in cation balance and transportation of nutrients within the plant and helps diminish the effects of fungal infections.
While introducing Cl to your feeding nutrients schedule is almost never required, as its found in such abundance in almost everything natural around us, it still plays a crucial role in the development of plants and we can't forget that!
Chlorine toxicities and deficiencies are very hard to identify as they share many characteristics with other nutrients, if you have a toxicity or deficiency, the chances are you'll also have many other serious issues with your plants that have synergistically caused the Cl imbalance.
While its always better to have more information up your sleeves in general, most growers will never have to be concerned about issues with Nickel or Chlorine, other than extremely rare circumstances.
