EFFECT OF EDTA AND DTPA ON AVAILABLE-P EXTRACTION WITH THE KELOWNA MULTIPLE ELEMENT EXTRACTANT

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of adding either 0.001M EDTA or 0.005M DTPA on the amount of P removed from acid and calcareous soils by the Kelowna and 0.25M HO Ac extractants. These complexing agents were studied for possible simultaneous extraction and determination of available Zn. To achieve that end, P-concentrations removed by these solutions from a group of acid, calcareous, and combined soils were compared against reference values obtained with 0.5M NaHCO 3 (Olsen et al.) and the Kelowna extractant (0.25M HOAc + 0.015M NH 4 F) by means of graphing, correlation and regression techniques. Of the 80 soils studied, 40 were acid with pH (H 2 O) values ranging from 4.2 to 6.9 and the remainder having higher values up to 9.3. Results indicated that additions of either 0.001M EDTA or 0.005M DTPA to the Kelowna solution increased average extracted P concentrations by about 20 and 60%, respectively. Values removed by either of the new KEDTA and KDTPA solutions were closely related to those extracted with 0.5M NaHCO 3 and Kelowna solutions on acid and calcareous soils (r values ≥ 0.96**). As EDTA and DTPA increased extracted soil P, these were added at 0.001 and 0.005M as NH 4 preparations to 0.25M HOAc (AADTPA & AAEDTA; without fluoride), respectively, for determining whether these complexing agents could supplant F for P extraction. These solutions removed proportionally related amounts (r ≈ 0.94**) of P from calcareous, compared to the Kelowna and 0.5M NaHCO 3 solutions, but relationships were less precise for acid soils (r ≈ 0.76**). These results suggest that the AADTPA or AAEDTA solution should be evaluated further before adoption for routine P determination in multiple element extractions. Key words: Mehlich in, acid soils, calcareous soils