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Nutrient deficiencyLeaves

Lime-induced chlorosis

Yellowing between the veins of the YOUNGEST leaves while the veins stay green. The soil usually contains plenty of iron; what is wrong is that the pH is too high for the plant to take it up. Adding iron to the soil without correcting the pH changes nothing.

Described view

A pear shoot on the tree in summer showing lime-induced chlorosis: the youngest leaves bright yellow with a fine green net of veins still standing out against them, older leaves further down the shoot progressively greener, and the leaf margins beginning to scorch brown on the worst-affected leaves

What brings it on

Alkaline soil or alkaline water. Iron and manganese become progressively less available as pH rises, so an acid-loving plant on chalky ground, or one watered from a hard-water tap, starves in the middle of plenty.

source

Sourced guidancehigh confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Lime-induced chlorosis
  • Cornell Fruit Resources — Cornell University, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences: Blueberry soil pH management

Checked 2026-08-13

Usually seen: May, June, July, August

Preventing it

Ordered by how much difference each measure actually makes, not by how often it is repeated.

  • Grow acid-loving fruit in containers of ericaceous compost rather than trying to acidify a chalky garden. Attempting to hold a whole bed below its natural pH is a losing battle that has to be refought every year.
    source

    Sourced guidancehigh confidence

    • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing blueberries

    Checked 2026-08-13

  • Water with rainwater. Tap water in a hard-water area is alkaline enough to raise the pH of a container over a season, which is why a blueberry that started well declines in its second year.
    source

    Sourced guidancehigh confidence

    • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing blueberries

    Checked 2026-08-13

Dealing with it once it is there

  • Correct the pH rather than the iron: move the plant into ericaceous compost, switch to rainwater, and mulch with composted bark or pine needles.
    source

    Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence

    • Royal Horticultural Society: Lime-induced chlorosis

    Checked 2026-08-13

  • A chelated iron feed relieves the symptom for a season and does not address the cause. It buys time while the underlying pH problem is fixed.
    Horticultural consensusDepends on conditionsmoderate confidence

    Applies when: Useful as a stopgap on an established plant; pointless as a permanent regime.

    • Royal Horticultural Society: Lime-induced chlorosis

    Checked 2026-08-13

What it affects

On sprays and treatments

GrowingHQ does not tell anyone what to apply, at what rate, or how often. Pesticide approvals differ by country, change without notice, and the product label is legally binding — it is also the document you are holding. What is described here is cultural and physical control, which is what a home grower can act on without a label in front of them.

Plant-specific guides

Where this is one of several causes that look alike on a particular plant, GrowingHQ publishes the differential rather than the general answer.