Abstract
The effects of lime and P addition on the amounts of soil extractable P and Al, and on the growth of the tropical legume Leucaena leucocephala were investigated in a factorial experiment under controlled climate conditions using 4 (Koronivia, Nadroloulou, Batiri, and Seqaqa) highly-weathered, acid (pH initially 3.9 to 4.9) soils from Fiji. Resin-extractable P increased with lime addition and then decreased above pH 5.5, whereas M KCl-extractable Al decreased to undetectable levels at or above pH 5.2. Plant growth was usually adversely affected at low and high pH, even in the presence of added P. The pH (in M KCl) at which maximum growth occurred in the 4 soils varied from approximately 4.4 to 5.2; values somewhat lower than those reported in the literature. Changes in dry matter yield with increasing soil pH were strongly influenced by P status and a positive lime × P interaction was obtained with 3 of the 4 soils. Above pH 5.2, liming decreased the yield of both tops and roots, for reasons which are discussed in part II. The data obtained for extractable soil P and plant P concentrations indicate that P deficiency is a major problem on these soils.
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Naidu, R., Tillman, R.W., Syers, J.K. et al. Lime-aluminium-phosphorus interactions and the growth of Leucaena leucocephala . Plant Soil 126, 1–8 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00041363
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00041363