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Plant Uptake of Boron as Affected by Boron Distribution Between Liquid and Solid Phases in Soil
Author(s) -
Keren R.,
Bingham F. T.,
Rhoades J. D.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.2136/sssaj1985.03615995004900020004x
Subject(s) - boron , chemistry , adsorption , soil science , environmental science , organic chemistry
The effect of clay content and total boron content in soil on boron availability to plants (bell pepper) was studied, using a clay soil and a soil‐sand mixture consisting of two parts of soil to one part of sand. Experimental results of boron in soil solution as a function of total boron content in soil were compared with values computed using a competitive adsorption model. The agreement between the calculated and the experimental results indicates that this model can be used to predict boron activity in soil solution at a water content lower than that of the saturated paste. Boron uptake by the plants was linearly correlated with the boron content in the soil for both soil systems. The boron content in the leaf tissue of the plants grown in the soil‐sand mixture was significantly higher than that of the plants growing in the soil system at any level of boron added. However, when boron content in the leaf tissue was related to boron activity in soil solution, the experimental points for both soil systems lay on the same straight line, indicating that boron uptake by bell pepper and boron activity in soil solution were highly correlated. It is evident that the dry leaf weight is linear correlated with the boron content in the leaf tissue, and, therefore, is linearly correlated with boron activity in soil solution. It is concluded that boron in soil solution, rather than adsorbed boron, influenced boron uptake by plants.