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Leaching of Fertilizer Ions in a Ultisol from the High Rainfall Tropics: Leaching Through Undisturbed Soil Columns¹

ABSTRACT

Downward movement of applied Ca³⁺, Mg²⁺, K⁺, and NO₃^- in a coarse-textured, kaolinitic Ultisol profile was studied in the laboratory using undisturbed soil columns. The soil columns were leached with an amount of water equivalent to the annual rainfall of the sampling site (2,420 mm) through a rainfall simulator over a period of 72 days. Added nitrate in the forms of Ca, Mg, or K salts leached readily through the profile. Nitrate leached mainly with Al³⁺ ions. Cations leached differentially, depending upon the exchange selectivity of the soil and upon the surface loading of the cation in question. The leachability of the cations under the experimental conditions follows the order K < Al Ca Mg < Na.

The vertical distribution of added Ca in the leached profile may be predicted by Walter's formulation of ion exchange chromatography.

The limed soil columns retained more Ca in the surface layer than the columns treated with Ca(NO₃)₂ when an equal amount of Ca was applied.

¹ Contribution from the Int. Inst. of Tropical Agric. (IITA), PMB 5320, Ibadan, Nigeria. IITA Journal Paper no. 161.

² Soil Chemist and Soil Scientist, respectively.

Received for publication April 21, 1980. Accepted for publication March 25, 1981.