Soil zinc and pH effects on zinc concentrations of corn plants

Abstract

Z1nc (Zn) deficiency of corn (Zea mays L.) has been detected in 20 or more states 1n the United States including Georgia. Since soil pH is a major factor in assessing the availability of soil Zn, this measurement has been included with acid extractable soil Zn in developing calibration Zn soil tests in North Carolina and Virginia. The objectives of this study were to develop a reliable soil test for Zn based on soil pH and Mehlich 1 soil Zn for corn gown on coarse‐textured soils and to compare our soil test values with those recently published from North Carolina where Mehlich 3 was the extractant. The study was conducted 1n 1979 to 1981 on a Tifton loamy sand (Plinthic Paleudult) site which had been used to study the influence of lime rates on micronutrient availability since 1970. Treatments consisted of four soil pH levels ranging from 5.3 to 6.6 and soil Zn levels ranging from 0.5 to 4.9 mg/kg. The Zn levels were established from the previous study where 5.6 kg Zn/ha had been applied annually for eight years (residual treatment) and by applying 3.36 or 6.72 kg Zn/ha during 1979, 1980 and 1981.

Soil Zn, corn shoot, and ear leaf Zn values were reflective of the amount of Zn applied except that the residual Zn treatment resulted in Zn concentrations > than the annual application of 3.36 kg Zn/ha. Zinc tended to accumulate in the soil and in corn leaf tissue more from the residual Zn than the recently applied Zn treatments, especially at the highest pH levels. Increasingly more soil Zn was required to increase corn shoot and ear leaf Zn one mg/kg as soil pH increased. In the initial year, each unit (kg/ha) of applied Zn increased corn shoot Zn approximately 4 units (mg/kg) at pH 5.3 and only 0.3 unit at pH 6.6. Zinc deficiency symptoms developed in corn shoots for the two highest soil pH levels in two of three years. Corn yields were increased by Zn only in 1980 and were increased by residual or applied Zn at pH levels of 6.2 and 6.6. Regression equations from these studies were utilized to develop predictive corn shoot and ear leaf Zn values over wide ranges in soil Zn and pH. Our field research data using Mehlich 1 extractant could possibly be used satisfactorily in North Carolina regression equations where Mehlich 3 was the extractant; however, certain limitations would need to be imposed in the North Carolina equations.