Abstract
The effect of Ca(OH)2 or Ca(H2PO4)2 ⋅ 2H2O (MCP) on potassium (K) or magnesium (Mg) leaching through and out of columns of soil with predominantly variable charge was studied. Calcium hydroxide was mixed with soil from the A and B horizon to raise the pH to about 6 or 7, and MCP, equivalent to 952 mg P, was mixed with the A horizon of each soil. Various concentrations of KCl or MgCl2 were applied as a pulse to the soil surface and leached with five pore volumes of deionised water.
Calcium hydroxide or MCP addition increased leaching losses of K and Mg initially present in the soil.
Liming to about pH 6 reduced leaching of applied K and Mg in all soils. This was attributed to the increase in the cation exchange capacity (CEC). Applied K leached to a greater extent at pH 7 than at pH 6 in the A horizon of each soil despite a two-fold increase in CEC. However, when Mg was applied to all soils and K applied to soil from B horizons, leaching decreased as the pH increased from 6 to about 7.
The addition of MCP increased the CEC of all soils, but this had little effect on the leaching of applied K compared with the untreated soils.
A proportion of applied K or Mg was displaced from the soil column for all Ca(OH)2 or MCP treatments. In many columns, no increase in exchangeable K or Mg in the lower segments of the soil column was found. Where this occurred the activity ratio in the leachate was the same as the equilibrium activity ratio.
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Phillips, I.R., Black, A.S. & Cameron, K.C. Effect of cation exchange on the distribution and movement of cations in soils with variable charge. II. Effect of lime or phosphate on potassium and magnesium leaching. Fertilizer Research 17, 31–46 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01050455
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01050455