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Cocoa
Magnesium
| Required for: |
Yield, quality (soluble solids content),
ripening
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| High deficiency risk: |
Acid soils, Al toxicity in the soil
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| Deficiency symptoms: |
Mg: |
Interveinal chlorosis of basal leaves. First symptoms occur on the non-shaded canopy
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| Optimal leaf concentrations: |
Mg: |
0.35-0.45% (near mature leaf)
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| Recommendations: |
A prerequisite for successful management of a cocoa plantation is to achieve an optimal ratio between the various cations in the soil. Exchangeable K:Ca:Mg should be 8:68:24. Corrective fertilisation measures may be required to reach this. Thereafter maintenance dressings of Kieserite should be applied. These are 6-18 g of Kieserite/ tree every two months, starting with the first month after planting. Mature trees should receive 110-170 kg Kieserite per hectare per year. |
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Interveinal, fishbone-like chlorosis of the basal leaves indicate severe Mg deficiency.
Adequate fertilisation is important in achieving a healthy, high yielding crop.
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