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Iron chelators are the most effective Fe fertilizers known to date. However, due to their negative charge they are easily leached out of the root zone. Besides the risk of groundwater contamination with organic compounds and metals, repeated applications of expensive Fe chelates are often required. With the aim to reduce leaching, desferrioxamine B (DFOB) and ethylenediaminedihydroxyphenylacetic acid (EDDHA) were immobilized on Sepharose and tested as Fe sources to plants. Two cultivars of cucumber (Dlila and Kfir) grown in hydroponic cultures at pH 7.3, efficiently utilized Fe from immobilized FeDFOB, and immobilized FeEDDHA. In general, plant response to the immobilized fertilizers became comparable to that of soluble chelates within a period of 17 to 26 days. The kinetics of alleviating Fe induced chlorosis in plants treated with the immobilized chelates was slower than that obtained with soluble chelates. Moreover, the Fe3+ reduction rates obtained for immobilized FeDFOB were slower than thos...

Although microbial siderophores are characterized by high affinity and selectivity for Fe3+, they are usually less efficient as Fe‐carriers to plants than synthetic chelates. An exception to this is rhizoferrin, a fungal siderophore produced by Rhizopus arrhizus isolated and purified by our group. A ferric complex of rhizoferrin was used in this study as an Fe source for tomato and cucumber ("strategy I") and barley and corn ("strategy II") plants grown in nutrient solutions. The Fe‐rhizoferrin complex was found to be an efficient carrier of Fe to these plants. The efficiency of this chelate is comparable with that of the commonly used ferric complexes of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and ethylenediamine‐di(o‐hydroxyphenyl)acetic acid (EDDHA). The application of Fe‐rhizoferrin resulted in enhanced plant weight in barley and corn and higher leaf chlorophyll concentration in tomato, barley and com. Iron uptake by Fe‐stressed cucumber plants from the 59Fe chelate of rhizoferrin and other ch...