| Abstract: | Total uptake of linuron by wheat seedlings in nutrient solutions was close to that expected from the product of the amounts of water transpired by the plants and the concentrations of herbicide in solution. Uptake from 19 different soils was less than the amount supplied by mass-flow when the concentrations of linuron in the soil solution were estimated from slurry adsorption measurements. Using a pressure-membrane technique, it was shown that the actual soil solution concentrations of linuron were less than those estimated, and following rewetting of pressure-membrane samples, the rate of redistribution of linuron between the adsorbed and solution phases was slow. The results suggest that under the conditions of the uptake experiments, the systems were not in equilibrium, and show that the rates of adsorption and desorption of linuron may be important in determining its availability to plants. |
