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A qualitative method of assessing the available nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus in the soil
Author(s) -
Cullimore D. R.
Publication year - 1966
Publication title -
journal of the science of food and agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1097-0010
pISSN - 0022-5142
DOI - 10.1002/jsfa.2740170709
Subject(s) - phosphorus , potassium , nitrogen , nutrient , agronomy , soil test , chemistry , crop , bioassay , environmental chemistry , environmental science , soil water , soil science , biology , ecology , organic chemistry
A technique for the bioassay of the nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in the soil using a filamentous alga Hormidium flaccidum as the plant indicator, is described, and in preliminary tests used qualitatively to evaluate the available nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus in soil which had been used in field crop or glasshouse trials. Qualitatively, the prediction accuracy for phosphorus and nitrogen was correct for 77% of the total samples assayed for each element, while for potassium 89% of the results were correctly predicted. Most of the incorrect predictions were falsely indicating an adequate amount of nutrient in the soil. Causes of this are discussed.