Nutrient Availability
Improving Availability of Plant Nutrients
In very acid soils, all the major plant nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, sulphur, calcium, manganese and also the trace element molybdenum) may be unavailable, or only available in insufficient quantities. Plants can show deficiency symptoms despite adequate fertiliser application.
Availability / effectiveness of Phosphate, Potash and Nitrogen at various soil pH(CaCIÇ) levels:
Effect of pH (CaCIÇ) on the availability of soil nutrients:
The white bands in this chart illustrate how the availability of important plant food elements is affected by the acidity of the soil – the wider the band, the greater the degree of availability. A pH of 6.5 to 7 is the most favourable reaction.
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