It is important to find an adequate part of the strawberry plant to detect early signals of plant diseases and pests. For example, we should focus on the leaves to detect calcium deficiency because the early symptoms of calcium deficiency are tip burn in leaves and cupped and distorted leaves. parts of the plants that show the deficiency symptoms also depend on the mobility of the element in the plant. For elements that are actively mobilised within the plants and exported to young developing tissues, the deficiency symptoms tend to appear first in the older tissues. For example, the deficiency symptoms of nitrogen, potassium and Calcium (Ca) is an essential nutrient for plants and animals, with key structural and signalling roles, and its deficiency in plants can result in poor biotic and abiotic stress tolerance, reduced crop quality and yield. Likewise, low Ca intake in humans has been linked to various diseases (e.g. rickets, osteoporosis, hypertension and colorectal cancer) which can threaten quality of life and Foliar sprays. Make sure to pH the calcium mix to 5.8 before spraying. A pH of 5.8 will help the absorption rate. It also helps to add a surfactant (an additive to help the mix stick to and stay on the leaves). Add the correct amount of calcium to your nutrient feed. Some genetics may require more or less. Nutrients important for plant growth vary in their ability to move within the plant. Knowing how they move can be helpful when diagnosing deficiency problems. Seventeen elements have been identified as vital to plant growth. Three elements, carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, are non-minerals and the other 14 (Table 1) are minerals. Carbon and oxygen Symptoms of deficiency can vary across crop species, but similarities exist for how nutrient insufficiency impacts plant tissue color and appearance. Nutrient deficiencies are commonly associated with the physical location on the plant (i.e., whether the symptoms are primarily observed on older versus newly formed plant tissue), but these Chlorine deficiency causes abnormally short roots and increases the number of lateral roots. Chlorine toxicity will also cause abnormally short roots with very little lateral branching (from left to right: 0, 1, and 100 ppm Cl). Neither Cl deficiency nor toxicity are likely in commercially-grown sugarcane in Florida. Credit: J. E. Bowen Calcium deficiency. Plant growth was strongly suppressed by the Ca-deficient treatment. Root growth was poor and roots were short, thickened, and brittle (Fig. 1; Table 2). Calcium deficiency induced shoot tip injury and loss of apical dominance. Tip injury was followed by the development of axillary shoots, with necrotic young leaves. yU0Z.