Abstract
Seedlings of 14 species were grown for 14–28 days on nutrient solution with 6 mmol.l−1 NH4 as the sole nitrogen source. Solutions acidity was were kept constant at pH 4.0, 5.0, 6.0 and 7.0 by continuous titration with diluted KOH. The following species were used: barley, maize, oats sorghum, yellow and white lupin, pea, soybean, carrot, flax, castor-oil, spinach, sugarbeet and sunflower. Most plant species grew optimally at pH 6.0 with slight reductions at pH 5.0. Growth of many species was severely inhibited at pH 4.0, but this inhibition was not observed with the legume and cereal species. Yield depressions at pH 4.0 relative to pH 6.0 were well correlated with the respective relative decreases of the K concentration in their roots (P<0.002). In the roots of two species (sunflower and flax) total N concentrations were also strongly reduced at pH 4.0. apparently, the interactions between uptake of K, NH4 and H ions become the prevalent problem at suboptimal pH. At pH 7.0, yields were also considerably decreased, with the exception of the lupines. At this pH, the roots of the growth inhibited plants were characterized by increased levels of total N and free NH4. It is thought that the binding capacity of the roots for NH4 is an important factor in preventing NH4/NH3 toxicity at supraoptimal pH.
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Findenegg, G.R. A comparative study of ammonium toxicity at different constatn pH of the nutrient solution. Plant Soil 103, 239–243 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02370395
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02370395