5. If a plant shows a symptom which could develop due to deficiency of more than one nutrient, how would you find out experimentally, the real deficient mineral element?
In plants, the deficiency of a nutrient can cause multiple symptoms. Similarly, a deficiency of one nutrient may cause the same symptoms as that caused by the deficiency of some other nutrients. For example, the deficiency of nitrogen can cause chlorosis as well as delayed flowering. Similarly, necrosis can be caused by the deficiency of several nutrients like calcium, magnesium, copper, potassium etc. If a plant shows a symptom which could develop due to deficiency of more than one nutrient then to find out experimentally, the real deficient mineral element, we have to first prepare the dilute solutions of all the possible deficient nutrients. Several plants will be grown in small pots using nutrient-deficient soil. Dilute solutions of different nutrients will be added in different pots. In one set the growth of plants will become normal. The nutrients supplied to these plants had been deficient.