What is the importance of Iron in plant growth?
Iron is essential for all plant growth, but it must be soluble Iron. Many trace element mixes contain Ferrous Sulphate (which is soluble), and after making up into a hydroponic nutrient solution, it oxidises to the Ferric form which is insoluble and black into the bargain. Now, the plant is not going to get any Iron whatsoever. To solve this problem, the Starting Formula uses Iron Chelate … the Iron salt of Ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid (EDTA) as its source of Iron. If you must use Ferrous Sulphate, you must add a small amount of it every second day to keep sufficient Iron in the system. The presence of Iron catalyses many reactions necessary for plant growth. The catalyst is not consumed in the reaction, but acts more as a facilitator for the reaction. All of the trace elements in Solution #1 behave as catalysts.
