Evaluation of sodium tetraphenylboron (NaBPh4) as a soil test of potassium availability |
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| Authors: | Fotis Bilias Nikolaos Barbayiannis |
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| Institution: | Soil Science Laboratory, Soil Science and Agricultural Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece |
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| Abstract: | Non-exchangeable potassium (Knex) contributes to soil K availability and several extractants are used to access its contribution. This study evaluated sodium tetraphenylboron (NaBPh4) as a soil test of K availability in 20 soils from Northern Greece. Winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L. var. ‘Yecora’) was sown in a greenhouse pot experiment and five cropping cycles were carried out until K-depletion. Soils were analyzed with NH4OAc and NaBPh4 (1 and 5 min incubation periods). Critical levels of K ranged between 130–140 and 330–340 mg K kg?1 of soil for NH4OAc and NaBPh4 (1 min incubation period), respectively, and between 32 and 35 g K kg?1 of wheat dry matter. NaBPh4-K (1 min) related better with K concentration and uptake compared to NH4OAc for each cropping cycle (r2 = 0.45–0.83 and 0.44–0.89) and for all soils (r2 = 0.58 and 0.51). Similar results obtained in soils low in exchangeable K (r2 = 0.41 and 0.39). Correlation between NH4Oac- and NaBPh4-extractable K was weaker among soils below the critical level (r = 0.70) compared to those above (r = 0.93). Inclusion of illitic K and cation exchange capacity in a multiple linear regression between NH4OAc- and NaBPh4-extractable K showed that they significantly contributed to NaBPh4-extractable K. |
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| Keywords: | Critical levels K depleted soils non-exchangeable K winter wheat |
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