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Recovery of K₂SO₄ by Alfalfa After Placement at Different Depths in a Low Fertility Soil¹

Knowledge of the quantitative contribution of plant nutrients from the soil volume penetrated by crop roots is needed for an overall analysis of present methods of fertilization. An experiment was initiated in 1971 to determine the uptake of K and SO4 by alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) from different depths in a low K Plane silt loam soil profile. An injection method was used to place a solution of K₂SO₄ at depths of 7.5, 22.5, 37.5, 52.5, 67.5, and 82.5 cm below the soil surface in a 2-year-old stand. A check and surface broadcast application of K₂SO₄ also were included as treatments. Potassium sulfate was applied at the rate of 224 kg/ha of K and 92 kg/ha of S. Treatment areas were 8350 cm₂. Three cuttings of the entire treatment area were made at first flower during the 1971 season, and the herbage was analyzed for yield and concentrations of K and S.

Alfalfa recovered 41, 29, 19, 16, 10, 15, and 11% of the added K from the surface, 7.5, 22.5, 37.5, 52.5, 67.5, and 82.5 cm soil depths, respectively. No major differences were observed in S concentration of the tissue between the check and treatments.

These data show that alfalfa absorbed K most heavily from the surface soil area as compared to the Ap and deeper horizons.

Key Words: Potassium • Sulfur • Herbage yield

² Associate Professor of Horticulture and Soil Science and Professor of Agronomy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wis. 53706.

Received for publication March 9, 1973.

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