I have been working on a research regarding Si fertilizer application on Sugarcane crop. Many literature indicates that 0.01M CaCl2 method is most suitable. If it so can anyone provide the correct procedure to determine plant available Si using 0.01M CaCl2 extraction method?
J. C. Tarafdar Thank you very much sir. But I can not find out the procedure for 0.01 M CaCl2, silicon extraction method.
Your question is a good one, in part because very few labs measure total Si in plants. Without that validating a soil test for available Si is stymied.
So how about measuring total plant Si as part of the 'response' study? How else can you demonstrate the cause of any observed Si treatment effect?
To my knowledge there are two ways of recovering/measuring plant Si.
The extractions are low tech:
1. dilute HF in a HCl solution containing a large XS of B(OH)3 (recommended).
2. alkaline fusion in a metal crucible (Pt is fine but some Pt alloys are better)
The Si can be measured colorimetrically, by a method like that used for P.
If you needs large numbers of Si analyses in plants, XRF is the way to go because you can process ground material directly, BUT you will need reference samples with good quality Si measures to calibrate the XRF. It's a substantial investment.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Agricultural Science
- Agronomy
- Crop Science
- Crop