Abstract
The relationship between soil K supply, characterised by the soil solution K concentration and the soil K buffer power, and plant K status was investigated for field grown crops. The study was carried out in 15 K fertilisation trials with maize and wheat covering a wide range of agricultural soils and K level. Soil K buffer power was obtained through sorption–desorption curves. For each trial the critical K concentration in the soil solution was deduced from the relationship between the K concentration in the soil solution and the K concentration in shoot tissue water, which was considered as a relevant indicator of the plant K status. At sufficient K levels, the maximal K concentration in the shoot tissue water of maize (145 mM) was lower than that of wheat (175 mM) but the percentages of the critical K concentration in plant tissue water to this maximal K concentration were similar for the two plant species with an average of 75%. The critical K concentration in the soil solution varied between soils. However, a close correlation was found between the critical K concentration in soil solution and the inverse of the soil buffer power at this concentration (r 2=0.981) or the inverse of the square of buffer power (r 2=0.989). On a wide range of soils and field conditions, these two indicators were more able to account for K availability and plant response than exchangeable K content or K saturation ratio of the CEC.
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Schneider, A., Castillon, P. & Pellerin, S. Relationships between soil potassium supply characteristics based on soil solution concentration and buffer power and field responses of winter wheat and maize. Plant and Soil 254, 269–278 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025570704649
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025570704649