Hello,
I am conducting agronomic experiment, growing Soybean on a trial plot of 100 ft x 50 ft. It's a lateritic soil with slightly acidic pH around 6.5
Plants are 65 days however sufficient number of pods not visible for good yield. Will use foliar spray (macro + micro) as corrective.
At same time, it ll be useful to apply something to soil for pH correction. Ideally a liquid will help.
Requesting expert members to suggest what could be the liquid pH improver.?
Pls suggest
Thanking you
I wonder , why do you want to raise the soil pH which so idealistically poised at 6.5..Did you notice any deficiency or toxicity of any nutrient at this soil pH..?
I wonder , why do you want to raise the soil pH which so idealistically poised at 6.5..Did you notice any deficiency or toxicity of any nutrient at this soil pH..?
Dear Rohan Oak,
I think you can find the detailed information from below links!!
http://www.smart-fertilizer.com/articles/soil-ph
http://www.askaprepper.com/adjust-ph-in-soil-water-harvests/
http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1957/38531/em9057.pdf
Thanks !!
Shrivastava Sir it is in range of 6 to 6.5
The number of pods (at 65 days) are very less and I do not recognize any other reason. And pH correction seems to be the best shot at this stage with only 30 - 35 days left for maturity.
You may please suggest another measure I can try, I ll try it out. Thanking you
Dear Wajid N Jatoi, thanks, I ll read.
Regards
Did you test the soil , what are the soil test values for different nutrients , any idea...?
Can you not get into the lab overnight and do a complete nutrient analysis on a plant sample?
I feel, lesser number of pods could be linked to some nutrient deficit only, not necessarily you witness any nutrient deficiency ...
Definitely it is problem of mineral disorders especially hidden hunger, but without picture and visible symptoms it is difficult to diagnose the same. Also with 65 days of crop it may not be economic to correct the same. Howeve, you can try with application of DAP (half of the recommencded dose) + Mo (200 g/ha of any available molebdenum source) by applyin in the soil and mixing the same. And if it click include in practice.
Good points Dr Singh , i agree ...i dont think , we can correct any mineral deficiency disorder in the current season crop..
Looks like potassium carbonate can be of acceptable help. It is highly soluble and therefore can be applied by drip irrigation. You can find detailed information in here http://www.smart-fertilizer.com/articles/soil-ph
I need more information on the specifics, like why do you want to raise the pH?
This is the first question , i posed , since its such a workable soil pH range...
In order to raise the pH of your soil you need to add potassium carbonate or Potassium hydroxide. I think Potassium carbonate is better that is highly soluble and therefore can be applied by drip irrigation. Potassium carbonate can be easily distributed throughout the root zone together with irrigation water and reach deeper soil profile
Looking carefully at your question, I realize there shouldn't be a problem of soil reaction as far as soybean is concerned. Indeed soybean can be safely grown on soil with ph between 6 and 7. Optimum ph 6.3 - 6.5 with beneficial effects on N fixation and nematode avoidance. So, your intentions of raising ph are not well motivated and there is risk of missing returns on investment should you embark on Agri business.
I agree that the maximum yield potential is probably set by this stage of crop development, so even foliar fertilsers may make little difference. But if you are in a hole, that is what I'd recommend, and I'd sample the foliage first and have it analysed for future reference.
You would need to take a shotgun approach with the composition of the foliar fertiliser. It's better to use more frequent, more dilute applications that risk burning the the foliage. .
Soil pH of 6.5 is not usually a limiting one in most cases. I would suggest the way to approach your low performance would best employ leaf analysis and a complete soil analysis. As Paul Milham has warned shotgun approaches are not recommended if you can hone in on the issues using complete leaf and aoil analysis better recommendation
I feel..its too late at this very crop growth stage..very limited options are available, especially wher you are looking at either increasing the pH ( soil pH will not undergo change in so little time) or any other option of improving level of crop nutrition when you no idea whatsoever about the kind of nutrients to address at...
Yeah it is getting late but there is still some time; some measures can therefore help get more useful pods, and improve 1000-seed weight! Now I looked again at the original question, I found the soil is a lateritic one. Typically, lateritic soils are the most highly weathered soils in the classification system. Lateritic soils' significant features are their unique color, poor fertility, high clay content, lower cation exchange capacity, and possessing a great amount of iron and aluminum (Al) oxides. As you remember/know, increased levels of aluminum can give rise to what's known as "mineral acidity"; this pushes me to request ROHAN to double-check his soil analytic data. He got a 6.5 Ph; but, in the hypothesis Ph was lower, then Aluminum and phosphorus can emerge as biggest problems.
Just to succinctly describe the Al issues, in acidic soils, Al gets solubilized into ionic forms, especially when the soil pH falls to lower than 5. Ionic forms of Al have are very toxic to plants, causing inhibition of root elongation by destroying the cell structure of the root apex and thus affecting water and nutrient uptake by the roots; as a consequence, plant growth and development is hindered. On the other hand, phosphorous (P) is easily fixed by clay minerals that are rich in acids soils, including various iron oxides and kaolinite, and hence rendering it (P) unavailable for root uptake. Thus, Al toxicity and P deficiency are considered to be two main constraints for crop production in acid soils.
At this soil pH, I have apprehensions about Al-toxicity .But Paul rightly said, just take a chance if it clicks , depends how precisely you diagnose the fertility constraint...And all, soils buffering capacity will be too high, not that easy to experience any change in soil pH..
I sense integrated approach can help but not that successfully when dealing with ongoing cropping season with pods in earlier development. At this stage, if the suspected problem (?acidity) were real, then we have an Emergency. There are commercial solutions to this issues, some of which were even described in this thread.
There may be Ca related problem in the plants. Because the presence of sufficient Ca in soils is required for initiation of pod formation in legumes. For correcting such impairment agricultural lime can be used at any time.
How much time , does it take from pod formation to pod filling , thats the question ..? And , we all are simply contemplating various situations, lets have the data about various forms of soil acidity..?
Equal amount of soil and Enriched organic manure like vermi-compost (50;50) mixed with calcium hydroxide after incubation for at least 10 days may be applied to raise the soil pH near to 6.5 in the potted plant.
All other things being equal, the issue here is how fast will it take for the pH to rise under open field conditions.
If the experiment was conducted in a greenhouse, I would have advised you the molybdate solution. But, in the field, I don't know?
Soil buffering capacity remains maximum at this soil pH range of 6.0-6.5 compared either on more acidic or alkaline side , thereby, it's almost impossible to realise any expected change in soil pH under field conditions.
About pH buffering capacity, well, please take a look at this paper https://research.jcu.edu.au/tropwater/publications/SoilpHbufferingcapacity.pdf
pH 6/6.5 (like in the question raised in this thread) is located at first section of the linear part of the pH buffering capacity; meaning we should expect good response.
The pH value 6.5 to 8.0 is very ideal situation. Why needs to raise pH value. If raise soil pH, what is the methods of pH analysis either soil water ratio or soil saturation extract or past. Use of chemicals or organic manures may used for increasing or decreasing the soil pH.
Soybeans will generally perform well at soil pH levels between 6.0 and 7.0. The optimal pH range is between 6.3 and 6.5. The pH of the soil described has an optimal soil pH for Soybeans. so why do you want to correct the optimal soil pH?
Most likely, any suggestion at this point in time is not going to help current trial. But it can help next trials. The original post anticipated applying macro/micronutrients and correcting pH, hopefully improving productivity. Should addressing these issues of soil chemistry and reaction did not allow any improvement, I would also advise assessing phytopathology issues, particularly soil borne soybean diseases. Most of these pathogens badly affect root and stem health in soybean . So getting a help of a phytopathologist near you, at your institute, is in order. Corrective measures for soil borne diseases are well known in extension.
Question is to address the problem felt in current season crop..
Time for current season's actionable suggestions is over. Indeed, the original point in this thread was posted 19 days ago; at that time plants were 65 days old. My prediction is we are now at or beyond R6 growth stage.
Dear experts,
Deeply thankful for the overwhelming response. I will respond individually so that there is constructive discussion on the topic.
Briefly describing the scenario: The experiment was at foothills of remote part and I got a telephonic feedback about pods. On immediate visit, I found that crop had a good number of pods taking into consideration the height of plant. In fact the plant height was low (~ 1.5 - 2 feet). May be this is what we get in red, low fertility soils. In another experiment with black soil, I have got 3 - 3.5 feet plant height.
1) The leaf area with this red, nutrient poor soil was less (7 - 9 cm2), around half that with black soil
2) The leaf colour was lighter (no particular spots, but the chlorophyll content was low)
3) Plant height was low (I visited other fields in the region, it was similar everywhere. In my case, the unfertilized plots was around 15% less height than average of that soil in the region)
4) Grain size was 10 - 15 % lower than average of what I have seen in well yielding farms by progressive farmers.
Worth mentioning of all these happenings, Grain quality was outstanding.
Thanking you
Nutrient dynamic with soil buffering capacity has been observed by the scientist generally from 5.5.to 6.5. .Below pH 5.5 Below soil pH 5.5 buffering capacity of soil decrease due to presence excessive amount of aluminum, iron,manganese in soil make complexes with essential element of plant like phosphorous zinc,, boron, molybdenum which hampered root and shoot growth of plant. So, normal pH of soil generally 6 to 8 and ideal pH of soil 6.5 to 7.5 microorganisms and plant where all the essential nutrients will remain in water soluble+exchangeable,organic complexes bonded ch-elated form or available form.
The feedback reflects the environmental conditions as described from the outset. Indeed, lateritic soils are characterized by their low soil fertility. They dispaly high rate of weathering, and low charge minerals and hence, this type of soil is unable to retain the nutrients needed for plant growth and development. Adding organic matter is part of stable solutions.
The definition of pH is the activity of the negative logarithm of the hydrogen and hydroxide ion concentration in grams per liter. pH scale discover by the scientist Sorenson from 0 to 14 and each pH unit equivalent to 0.59 mv. So, pH is a physico-chemical property of environment like lithosphere,hydrosphere atmosphere,bio-sphere of the planet earth. Elemental presence in the environment buffer the pH as acidity and alkalinity to neutral which is safe for the living environment of the earth ,
In the lithosphere of the earth as "SOLUM " known as surface of the soil generally pH buffered by organic matter as humus composed of lignite-carbon and protein as enzymes of microorganisms known as store house of plant nutrients.
Yes, the soil pH buffering capacity plays an important role during pH changes and it is not easy to change soil pH easily.
Good point Dr Nazir. A soil having pH between 6.0 1and 6.5 will possibly have maximum bufferig capacity with regard to change in soil pH, therefore, it will be very difficult to induce any discernable change in soil pH. And secondly , this is most friendly soil pH, we dont need to raise soil pH from this point onward , unless exchangeable Al or other possible potential acidity contributing factors are simultaneously are highlighted. Thirdly , while the crop is already growing , raising soil pH becomes still non-practical...
The soil pH of 6-6.5 in the presence of legumes will result in a lower pH of may be, pH 6 units or less. We have seen addition of urea to highly acidic soil (pH
I think soils with pH=6.5 are ideal for good crop yield .I think you must look for another reason for this phenomena,if there are any nutrient deficiency you can use a foliar spray for treating the case.
Soil with organic matter as humus which generally buffer the soil pH to near neutral in the range of 6.5 to 7.5 .
Dr Ali , this issue , we raised earlier also. We are so happy that the question is raising so much of interest to researchers...
Maybe Rohan can provide us with some soil analytic data so we can have a data-based discussion. Thus far we worked mainly on hypotheses and phenotypic observations.
Let up me put up another side of the story , in addition to what or learned colleagues have been debating . If i consider the pH of plant rhizosphere somewhere between 6.0-6.5 , the pH of the rhizoplane would be atleast 0.50-2.0 units lower ( reported in chickpea) , just imagine , how difficult to raise the soil pH when you consider pH gradient across rhizosphere to rhizoplane...
Soil pH is always buffered by elemental composition of acid and alkali metals in soil in the presence of organic matter as humus composed of lignite carbon and protein as enzymes of microorganism ; which may be fractinated as humic,fulvic and high-meta-melonic acid .
In general soil pH is difficult to manage. For this case with your short time, I think its so difficult.
Best wishes
Quick solution without analysis could be: complex foliar fertilizer every week( 2 application the first week) , you will see changes in a week or less, if you still want to do something in the soil, you can use a balance hydroponic formula or slow realize fertilizer mix(short term: 3 months)
In any case it will be helpful for you do the leaves and soil analysis to really understand what is going on. Hopefully this help. Good luck.
Soil pH values b/n 5.8 and 7.5 are unusually suitable for most crops. But, what is the amount of nutrients? Correcting pH alone might not be able to improve pod yield. So, the first thing is soil analysis as recommended by our colleagues.
But if you want to raise soil pH, why don't you add lime? Again if you prefer liquid forms, what if you add lime powder into water at appropriate ratio?
Birhanu, our question is to raise the soil pH under the same standing crop , when the crop is in such a advance stage. Under such soil physical, even lime addition will not help much , since at soil soil pH, soils possess maximum buffering capacity.
Many growers need to use lime in order to increase low soil pH.
However, there are many liming materials, differing in their composition and effectiveness. How can you determine the quality of the liming material? Which liming material is best for your soil? Which product will give you the best value for your money?
In order to answer these questions, we first need to understand some basic concepts and terminology:
SOIL ph
Soil pH affects many reactions in the soil. Soils with pH lower than 5.4 are considered to be acidic.
Low soil pH is associated with problems such as aluminum and manganese toxicities as well as with calcium and magnesium deficiencies.
Soil pH of 5.8 to 6.5 is favorable for most crops. In order to maintain the soil pH in this range acidic soils require liming.
Lime reduces the acidity in the soil and raises soil pH.
PURITY – CALCUIM CARBONATE EQUIVALENT (CCE)
The effectiveness of a liming material is directly related to its purity. Purity of a liming material is a measurement of the calcium carbonate equivalent (CCE). It is a measure to the amount of acid that the liming material will neutralize, compared to pure calcium carbonate (CaCO3).
The higher the calcium carbonate equivalence, the more effective the product in neutralizing acidity.
Pure calcium carbonate would have a CCE of 100%. Some materials can have a CCE higher than 100%.
Impurities, which have no neutralizing power, reduce the CCE value.
The CCE values of several common liming materials are presented in the table below:
Liming Material CCEPure calcitic lime (CaCO3) 100Pure dolomitic lime CaCO3*MgCO3 108Quicklime / burned lime (CaO)179Hydrated lime CaOH2 136Slag (CaSiO3) 86
FINESS
The liming material has to be grounded in order to be effective. Fineness refers to the particle size distribution of the liming material
Fine particles react faster in soil than large particles, as they have greater surface area.Therefore, liming materials containing more fine particles will be more effective.
The fineness is determined by passing the liming material through a set of sieves, usually 60 and 8 mesh sieves.
‘Mesh’ refers to the number of openings in the sieve (i.e. 60 mesh means 60 openings in one inch), therefore only fine particles will pass through a 60 mesh screen.
CLASSIFICATION OF LIMING MATERIALS
The classification of liming materials, based on their fineness depend on local regulations.
In general, a liming material is considered to be fine if about 95% of it passes a 20-mesh screen, 60% passes 60-mesh screen and 50% passes 100-mesh screen.
Lime particles that do not pass through an 8-mesh screen are considered to be ineffective.
EFFECTIVE NEUTRALIZING VALUE
This index allows comparison of different liming materials.
The terms ENV (Effective Neutralizing Value), RNV (Relative Neutralizing Value), NI (Neutralizing Index) and Effective CEE all refer to an index that allows comparing different liming materials.
The calculation of this index varies between countries and states. However, it is always determined by combining the fineness and purity properties of the liming material.
Example for a common method for calculating ENV:
ENV= CCE * [(A/100)*0.5 + (B/100)]
Where
A = % particles that pass through a 8-60 mesh size
B = % particles that pass through a 60 mesh screen
I am agree with Kulvir Singh.
1. Before plant, you can apply lime (one or two months before settle your crop), before rain seasons or with irrigation.
2. You can apply organic fertilizer as tea manure. It is liquid and is rich in P, K, Ca y Mg. Normally you need appply every 15 days in the soil, 15 cm close to plants.
Also, you can apply tea manure as foliar fertilizer (10 - 20%) join with liquid vermicompost (10%), every 15 days.
Highly elaborated answer by Singh and supported by Maria. You are welcome to the discussion. Thank you for your participation.
Enriched organic manure like vermi-composed may be applied with irrigation in potted plant and during growing crop plant in the field to buffer the soil pH favorable for uptake the nutrient to plant. For optimum and ideal pH of soil above 6.5 to 7.5 in a acid soil use of lime or dolomite according to lime requirement of soil generally applied before rainy season of the year at least one month before planting of crop.Lime materials should be mixed with the soil by plowing in the cultivated field of crop.
Application of fertilizers having alkaline residual effect shall be helpful to raise Ph.Similarly application of brackish water and few salts maily having Na / K also incresensoluble a pH.
Either of the two approaches , I don't think , any way will facilitate raising of soil pH in standing crop...
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