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Soil salinity studies. II. —The relation of plant growth to salinity in soil and soil mixtures of differing physical properties
Author(s) -
Massey D. M.,
Winsor G. W.
Publication year - 1968
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.2740190611
Subject(s) - salinity , bulk density , saturation (graph theory) , volume (thermodynamics) , soil salinity , chemistry , peat , soil science , soil water , water content , dry weight , agronomy , mineralogy , environmental science , geology , mathematics , geotechnical engineering , ecology , biology , oceanography , physics , combinatorics , quantum mechanics
Lettuce plants were grown at six levels of salinity in soil and in mixtures of soil with peat and sand. Soil salinity was determined in saturation pastes and paste extracts, and in 2.5 : 1 extracts prepared by weight and by volume, with and without added calcium sulphate. The correlations between plant growth (fresh weight) and salinity were calculated from two sets of data, each based on four lettuce crops. Sampling by volume rather than by weight for salinity measurements improved the correlations with growth, and gave a reasonably satisfactory measure of salinity over the range of growth media examined (bulk density 0.82‐1.37 after air‐drying and grinding). Still higher correlations resulted (r = —0.95 to —0.98) when corrections were applied for differences in bulk density. It is concluded that 2.5: 1 extracts prepared by volume, saturated with calcium sulphate and corrected where necessary for bulk density, can provide a rapid and reliable estimate of high salinity levels in soils differing considerably in moisture‐retaining properties.