Uptake of soil P, Al, Fe, Mn, Mg and Ca by Italian rye grass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) induced by synthetic chelating agent

Authors

• Helinä Hartikainen Department of Agricultural Chemistry, University of Helsinki, 00710 Helsinki 71

DOI: https://doi.org/10.23986/afsci.72067

Abstract

The effect of a synthetic chelating compound on the dry matter yield and the uptake of soil P, Al, Fe, Mn, Mg and Ca by Italian rye grass was studied in a pot experiment with three mineral soil samples irrigated with water or 0.001 M Na2-EDTA(dinatrium salt of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) solution. The Na2-EDTA treatment seemed not to affect the quantity of the dry matter yields, but it affected markedly their chemical composition. Increased contents of P, Al and Fe were found in all the harvests. In two soil samples the P supply was improved by 35—45 %. The accumulation of Al, Fe and Mn induced by Na2-EDTA tended to be the more effective the greater the stability constant for the corresponding metal-EDTA chelate was. Thus, the iron uptake increased most intensively, i.e. by 217—458 %, and that of aluminium by 33—120 %. On the basis of the first two harvests the manganese absorption by the rye grass seemed to decrease probably due to the enormous accumulation of iron. The results also suggested that the addition of Na2-EDTA to the soil was not able essentially to affect the magnesium and calcium supply to the plants.