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Relation of Soil Moisture to Ion Absorption by Corn Plants¹

ABSTRACT

A split-root technique was devised in which the top portion of the roots of corn plants developed in sand culture while the remaining portion of the root system developed in soil adjusted to seven known moisture contents in the range of wilting point to field capacity. With this system, plants were grown from seed for a 25-day period without addition of water to the soil and with only a small loss of the original soil water content. Plants were grown at two levels of atmospheric humidity at each level of soil moisture.

Dry weight of plant tops and roots developed in the soil increased linearly with increasing soil moisture. Both percent and total P, K, and Mg in the plants increased with increasing level of soil moisture. Level of humidity appears to interact with the effect of soil moisture on ion absorption.

¹ Contribution from the Department of Agronomy, Ohio Agr. Exp. Sta., Wooster, as Journal article No. 78-59. Presented before Div. I, Soil Science Society of America, Nov. 20, 1957, at Atlanta, Ga.

² Professor and Instructor; respectively.

Received for publication November 18, 1959. Accepted for publication December 31, 1959.