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Effect of Liming and Flooding on Manganese Toxicity in Alfalfa¹

ABSTRACT

Incubation and greenhouse studies showed that regardless of soil pH, flooding increased the content of exchangeable Mn and the Mn content of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) grown in a Kellner loamy sand. In the absence of a source of easily decomposable organic matter, Mn mobilization by flooding was considerably slower at a soil pH of 4.7 than at 7.3. Where alfalfa was grown in the soil or where finely milled oat straw was added, flooding mobilized more Mn in the acid than in the neutral soils. Liming promoted immobilization of Mn on the resumption of normal soil moisture relations after flooding. Seventy-two hours of flooding increased the Mn content of the alfalfa on the unlimed soil from 426 ppm to more than 6,000 ppm. Excess Mn tended to accumulate in the leaves and growing points of the plants. The results suggest that the well-known susceptibility of alfalfa to Mn toxicity may also account for its sensitivity to poorly aerated soils.

¹ Contribution from the Departments of Soils and Agronomy, University of Wisconsin, Madison. Published with the approval of the Director, Wisconsin Agr. Exp. Sta. Part of a dissertation submitted by the senior author in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph.D. degree, University of Wisconsin. Senior author is indebted to the South African Dept. of Agr. Tech. Services and to the South African Meat Control Board for leave of absence and financial support.

² Research Assistant, Professor of Soils and Professor of Agronomy, respectively.

Received for publication March 24, 1965. Accepted for publication August 17, 1965.