Changes with time in the availability of soil applied zinc to navy beans and in the chemical extraction of zinc from soils

Abstract

The effect of the incubation of zinc (Zn) applied to the soil on Zn uptake and the Zn concentrations in chemical extractants was studied. In a glasshouse experiment using a Zn-deficient gravelly sandy loam, the effect of recently applied Zn was compared with that of Zn incubated with the soil for 15 days at 40°C on growth and Zn uptake by navy beans (Phaseolus vulgaris cv. Gallaroy). At the second harvest (33 days after sowing), the dry weight of shoots of recently applied Zn was consistently higher than that of incubated Zn, except at the highest rate of 1 µg Zn g-1 soil, where yields were similar. Comparisons of the slope of the linear regressions of Zn uptake as a function of rate of application showed that incubated Zn was approximately 80% as effective as recently applied Zn. A laboratory experiment measured the decrease in Zn concentration in HCl, EDTA, DTPA, and dilute CaCl2 with incubation for up to 8 days at 40°C in four contrasting soils from Western Australia and Queensland. An addition of 2.5 µg Zn g-1 soil increased the concentration of Zn in all extractants at all times of incubation compared with the untreated soil. The recovery of the added Zn was generally highest with HCl and lowest with 0.002 M CaCl2 and decreased exponentially in all extractants with increasing time of incubation in all soils. The order of the rate of decrease in Zn concentration for all extractants was krasnozem > gravelly sandy loam > sand > sandy clay loam. The model, Y = CtB, where C and B are constants, was used to describe the relationship between the recovery of added Zn and time of incubation.