In our experiment, visible symptoms of chlorosis due to high
content of soil active lime that strongly influenced not only Fe, but
also other nutrients uptake, were found in correspondence with
sub-optimal or optimal leaf Fe content. In the so-called “chlorosis
paradox” (Morales et al., 1998; Pestana et al., 2003), chlorotic leaves
with low SPAD index show total leaf Fe concentration similar to that
of Fe sufficient leaves. In our experiment this “paradox” was found,
since plants with lower SPAD index however showed a fairly good
Fe content in leaves (Table 3).