Manganese deficiency
Interveinal yellowing of the young leaves with a broad green band along the veins — like iron chlorosis, but duller and coarser.
- Nutrient type
- Micronutrient
- Mobility in plant
- Immobile
- Symptoms start on
- New (upper) leaves
- Most at risk
- Over-limed, high-pH, sandy soils
Overview
Manganese activates many of the enzymes of photosynthesis, so a shortage yellows the leaf between the veins while a broad band of green is kept along and beside each vein. It looks like iron chlorosis, but is greyer and duller, the yellow is coarser and mottled, and the green vein-band is wider — a useful way to tell the two apart.
Like iron, manganese is immobile and its symptoms appear on the younger leaves, and it too is mostly a high-pH problem: over-limed, calcareous and sandy soils lock it up rather than lacking it. It is most often seen in citrus, and in cereals and soybean on alkaline patches.
How to spot it
- Young leaves yellow between the veins while a broad green band is retained along and beside each vein — greyer and duller than iron chlorosis.
- The yellowing is mottled and coarse rather than a clean bright net; in cereals it can show as pale grey-green streaks and flecks along the leaf.
- In severe cases small brown or grey dead spots appear in the yellowed tissue.
- Most common in citrus, and on alkaline patches in sugarcane, wheat and soybean.
Why it happens
- High soil pH — over-limed and calcareous soils — locks manganese into unavailable forms.
- Sandy soils and soils very high in organic matter (peaty soils) can be genuinely low in available manganese.
- Cool, wet conditions early in the season slow manganese uptake and bring on temporary symptoms.
- Over-liming an acid soil can swing it from adequate to deficient.
Confirm before you spend
- Manganese vs iron: both hit young leaves between the veins, but manganese keeps a broader green vein-band and looks greyer and coarser; iron chlorosis is brighter, almost white, with a finer green net.
- It is usually a high-pH lock-up, not a true absence — check soil pH and liming history before treating.
How to correct it
- Spray the foliage with 0.5% manganese sulphate (about 5 g/litre), repeated 2–3 times at 10–15 day intervals — foliar is the reliable route because soil manganese re-locks in high-pH soil.
- For a soil correction on a genuinely deficient soil, band manganese sulphate near the seed rather than broadcasting, which limits fixation.
- Avoid further liming on a manganese-deficient soil, and correct any over-liming that caused it.
- Do not confuse with iron — a manganese spray does nothing for iron chlorosis and vice versa, so match the treatment to the pattern.
Prevent it coming back
- Keep soil pH from drifting too high — lime acid soils to a target pH, not beyond it.
- Add organic matter and, on chronically deficient fields, include manganese in the micronutrient plan.
- On citrus, a routine micronutrient foliar spray (zinc + manganese together) is standard orchard practice on high-pH soils.
Crops most at risk
Where this problem is called out in our crop guides — open a crop for the full package of practices.
Frequently asked questions
Is this iron or manganese deficiency? My young leaves are yellow between the veins.
Look at the green along the veins and the overall tone. Manganese leaves a broad green band beside each vein and looks greyer, duller and mottled. Iron chlorosis is brighter, almost white, with a fine green net right up to the smallest veins. A test spray of each on a few leaves confirms which one greens up.
Can liming cause manganese deficiency?
Yes — over-liming is a classic cause. Raising soil pH too high locks manganese into forms the plant cannot take up, so a soil that was fine can become deficient after heavy lime. Lime acid soils to a target pH rather than beyond it, and correct manganese with a foliar manganese sulphate spray.
Why spray rather than add it to the soil?
Because on the high-pH soils where manganese deficiency usually occurs, soil-applied manganese sulphate re-locks into unavailable forms quickly — much like iron. A 0.5% manganese sulphate foliar spray delivers it straight to the leaf and is the reliable correction; soil application only helps on genuinely low, non-alkaline soils.
Symptoms and control measures follow ICAR, KVK and state agricultural-university package-of-practices; any named chemical is a registered use. Always read the product label and confirm the dose for your crop and zone. editorial policy.