scholarly journals The Pour-Through Procedure for Monitoring Container Substrate Chemical Properties: A Review

Horticulturae ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (12) ◽  
pp. 536
Author(s):  
James E. Altland
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Concentration ◽  
Extraction Procedure ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Nondestructive Method ◽  
Nutrient Concentrations ◽  
Horticultural Crop ◽  
Substrate Solution ◽  
The Past ◽  
Saturated Media ◽  
Substrate Ph

The pour-through procedure is a nondestructive method commonly used by horticultural crop producers and research scientists to measure chemical properties and nutrient availability in container substrates. It is a method that uses water as a displacement solution to push the substrate solution out of the bottom of the container so it can be analyzed for pH, electrical conductivity, and nutrient concentrations. The method was first introduced in the early 1980s. Since then, research has been conducted to determine factors that affect the results of the pour-through including volume, nature and timing of application of the displacement solution, container size, and substrate stratification. It has also been validated against other common methods for determining container substrate pH, EC, and nutrient concentration, most notably the saturated media extraction procedure. Over the past 40 years, the method has been proven to be simple, robust, and consistent in providing crop producers and researchers valuable information on substrate chemical properties from which management decisions and experimental inferences can be made.

Effects of soil properties on variation in growth, grain yield and nutrient concentration of wheat and barley

2006 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 93 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. K. McDonald
Keyword(s):  
Grain Yield ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Nutrient Concentration ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Growth And Yield ◽  
Dry Matter Production ◽  
Nutrient Concentrations ◽  
Plant Nutrient ◽  
Matter Production

High spatial and temporal variability is an inherent feature of dryland cereal crops over much of the southern cereal zone. The potential limitations to crop growth and yield of the chemical properties of the subsoils in the region have been long recognised, but there is still an incomplete understanding of the relative importance of different traits and how they interact to affect grain yield. Measurements were taken in a paddock at the Minnipa Agriculture Centre, Upper Eyre Peninsula, South Australia, to describe the effects of properties in the topsoil and subsoil on plant dry matter production, grain yield and plant nutrient concentrations in two consecutive years. Wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. Worrakatta) was grown in the first year and barley (Hordeum vulgare L. cv. Barque) in the second. All soil properties except pH showed a high degree of spatial variability. Variability in plant nutrient concentration, plant growth and grain yield was also high, but less than that of most of the soil properties. Variation in grain yield was more closely related to variation in dry matter at maturity and in harvest index than to dry matter production at tillering and anthesis. Soil properties had a stronger relationship with dry matter production and grain yield in 1999, the drier of the two years. Colwell phosphorus concentration in the topsoil (0–0.15 m) was positively correlated with dry matter production at tillering but was not related to dry matter production at anthesis or with grain yield. Subsoil pH, extractable boron concentration and electrical conductivity (EC) were closely related. The importance of EC and soil extractable boron to grain yield variation increased with depth, but EC had a greater influence than the other soil properties. In a year with above-average rainfall, very little of the variation in yield could be described by any of the measured soil variables. The results suggest that variation in EC was more important to describing variation in yield than variation in pH, extractable boron or other chemical properties.

scholarly journals Effect of Dolomitic Lime Rate and Application Method on Substrate pH and Creeping Woodsorrel Establishment

2006 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 185-191
Author(s):  
Sugae Wada ◽  
James Altland ◽  
Carol Mallory-Smith ◽  
Jack Stang
Keyword(s):  
Substrate Surface ◽  
Ph Effect ◽  
Extraction Procedure ◽  
Dolomitic Limestone ◽  
Growth Reduction ◽  
Fresh Weight ◽  
Dolomitic Lime ◽  
Application Method ◽  
Saturated Media ◽  
Substrate Ph

Abstract Experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of dolomitic lime rate and application method on substrate pH, creeping woodsorrel (Oxalis corniculata) establishment in containers, and growth of azalea (Rhododendron ‘Rosebud’) and pieris (Pieris japonica ‘Claventine’). In Experiments 1 and 2, pulverized dolomitic limestone was incorporated at 0, 6, 12, 24, or 47 kg/m3 (0, 10, 20, 40, or 80 lbs/yd3). Containers were overseeded with twenty seeds of creeping woodsorrel. Substrate pH was measured with a pour-through technique. Substrate pH increased linearly and quadratically with increasing lime rate. Creeping woodsorrel shoot fresh weight was negatively correlated to substrate pH (r = −0.67, p = 0.0001). Creeping woodsorrel germinated and established poorly in substrates with pH higher than 6.7, with commercially acceptable control (>90%) occurring in containers with pH higher than 8.4 and 7.5 in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively. In Experiments 3 and 4, containers were topdressed with a uniform layer of pulverized or pelletized dolomitic limestone at 0, 5, 10, 20, or 40 g (0, 0.18, 0.35, 0.71 or 1.14 oz) per container. Substrate pH was measured in 2.5 cm (1 in) layers from the top to the bottom of the container using a modified saturated media extraction procedure. At each lime rate, pH was higher on the substrate surface than lower layers when topdressed with pulverized compared to pelletized lime. Across all lime types and rates, pH was lower in the 2.5 to 5.1 cm (1 to 2 in) layer compared to the surface layer which indicates that the most significant pH effect occurs on the surface. Topdressing containers with 40 g (1.41 oz.) of pulverized lime provided acceptable creeping woodsorrel control (>90%). In Experiment 5, incorporating the same lime rates used in Experiments 3 and 4 caused chlorosis and in some cases growth reduction in azalea and pieris while topdressed lime caused no change in growth or foliar color by 125 days after potting.

scholarly journals Monitoring Chemical Properties of Growing Media with Small Soil Solution Samplers

HortScience ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 546E-546
Author(s):  
Raul I. Cabrera ◽  
Pedro Perdomo
Keyword(s):  
Crop Production ◽  
Pore Diameter ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Correlation Coefficients ◽  
Simple Correlation ◽  
Horticultural Crop ◽  
Monitoring Tools ◽  
Nutrition Research ◽  
Saturated Media ◽  
Polymer Tubes

Hydrophilic polymer tubes (2.5 mm OD, 1.4 mm ID, 10-cm length, 0.1-mm pore diameter) attached to PVC hose were used to extract solution from soilless media at container capacity and analyzed for pH, EC, NO3-N and NH4-N. Media chemical properties were also analyzed by the Saturated Media Extract (SME) and Pour-Through (PT) methods. Extraction and analyses were conducted in peat: vermiculite (PV) and peat: perlite (PP) media irrigated for 1 week with Hoagland solution at 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2 and 4x. A 10-mL syringe was used as the vacuum source (48.1 ± 0.5 kPa) for the solution samplers (SS), yielding ≈2–5 mL of solution over a 3-min period. Simple correlation coefficients for EC, NO3-N and NH4-N between SS and SME and PT were high (>0.99). When measured by PT, these chemical properties were similar to SS (within 1% to 6%), whereas SME values were much lower than SS (12% to 15% and 35% to 38% in PV and PP media, respectively). Correlation coefficients for pH were lower than in other chemical properties, particularly in the PV medium. With an estimated life of ≈6 months in soil, SS are excellent monitoring tools for mineral nutrition research and horticultural crop production.

scholarly journals Response of Calceolaria ×herbeohybrida Cultivars to Substrate pH and Corresponding Leaf Tissue Nutrient Concentration Effects

HortScience ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (12) ◽  
pp. 2163-2168
Author(s):  
W. Garrett Owen
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Leaf Tissue ◽  
Hydrated Lime ◽  
Nutrient Concentrations ◽  
Concentration Effects ◽  
Solution Ph ◽  
Substrate Solution ◽  
Interveinal Chlorosis ◽  
Red Eye ◽  
Substrate Ph

Calceolaria (Calceolaria ×herbeohybrida) is a flowering potted greenhouse crop that often develops upper-leaf chlorosis, interveinal chlorosis, and marginal and leaf-tip necrosis (death) caused by cultural practices. The objectives of this research were to 1) determine the optimal incorporation rate of dolomitic and/or hydrated lime to increase substrate pH; 2) determine the influence of the liming material on substrate pH, plant growth, and leaf tissue nutrient concentrations; and 3) determine the optimal substrate pH to grow and maintain during calceolaria production. Sphagnum peatmoss was amended with 20% (by volume) perlite and incorporated with pulverized dolomitic carbonate limestone (DL) and/or hydrated limestone (HL) at the following concentrations: 48.1 kg·m−3 or 144.2 kg·m−3 DL, 17.6 kg·m−3 DL + 5.3 kg·m−3 HL, or 17.6 kg·m−3 DL + 10.6 kg·m−3 HL to achieve a target substrate pH of 4.5, 5.5, 6.5, and 7.5, respectively. Calceolaria ‘Orange’, ‘Orange Red Eye’, ‘Yellow’, and ‘Yellow Red Eye’ were grown in each of the prepared substrates. For all cultivars, substrate solution pH increased as limestone incorporation concentration and weeks after transplant (WAT) increased, although to different magnitudes. For example, as limestone incorporation increased from 48.1 kg·m−3 DL to 17.6 kg·m−3 DL + 10.6 kg·m−3 HL, substrate solution pH for ‘Orange’ calceolaria increased from 4.1 to 6.9 to 4.8 to 7.2 at 2 and 6 WAT, respectively. Substrate solution electrical conductivity (EC) and growth indices were not influenced by limestone incorporation, but total plant dry mass increased. Few macronutrients and most micronutrients were influenced by limestone incorporation. Leaf tissue iron concentrations for ‘Orange’, ‘Orange Red Eye’, ‘Yellow’, and ‘Yellow Red Eye’ calceolaria decreased by 146%, 91%, 71%, and 84%, respectively, when plants were grown in substrates incorporated with increasing limestone concentrations from 144.2 kg·m−3 DL to 17.6 kg·m−3 DL + 10.6 kg·m−3 HL (pH 6.5–6.9). Therefore, incorporating 144.2 kg·m−3 DL into peat-based substrates and maintaining a pH <6.5 will avoid high pH–induced Fe deficiency and prevent upper-leaf and interveinal chlorosis.

scholarly journals Changes in Chemical and Physical Properties of Pine Tree Substrate and Pine Bark During Long-term Nursery Crop Production

HortScience ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 791-799 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian E. Jackson ◽  
Robert D. Wright ◽  
John R. Seiler
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Activity ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Pine Bark ◽  
Nutrient Concentrations ◽  
Substrate Solution ◽  
Nutrient Immobilization ◽  
Pine Tree ◽  
Fertilizer Rates

The objective of this study was to evaluate a pine tree substrate (PTS) for decomposition, changes in physical and chemical properties, and substrate carbon dioxide (CO2) efflux (microbial activity) during a long-term production cycle under outdoor nursery conditions. Substrates used in this study were PTS constructed using a 4.76-mm hammer mill screen and aged pine bark (PB). Plastic nursery containers were filled with each substrate and amended with either 4.2 or 8.4 kg·m−3 Osmocote Plus fertilizer and planted with Cotoneaster horizontalis or left fallow. Substrate solution chemical properties and nutrient concentrations were determined each month during the summers of 2006 and 2007 in addition to measuring substrate CO2 efflux (μmol CO2/m−2·s−1) as an assessment of microbial activity. Substrate breakdown (decomposition) was determined with particle size analysis and physical property determination on substrates at the conclusion of the study (70 weeks). Substrate solution pH was higher in PTS than in PB at both fertilizer rates in 2006, but pH levels decreased over time and were lower in PTS at both fertilizer rates in 2007. Substrate solution electrical conductivity levels, nitrate, phosphorus, and potassium concentrations were all generally higher in PB than in PTS at both fertilizer rates through both years. Pine tree substrate decomposition was higher when plants were present in the containers [evident by an increase in fine substrate particles (less than 0.5 mm) after 70 weeks], but breakdown was equal at both fertilizer rates. Shrinkage of PTS in the presence of plants was equal to the shrinkage observed in PB with plants, but shrinkage was higher in fallow PTS containers than PTS with plants. Substrate air apace (AS) was highest in PTS and container capacity (CC) was equal in PB and PTS at potting. Substrate AS decreased and CC increased in both substrates after 70 weeks but remained in acceptable ranges for container substrates. Substrate CO2 efflux rates were higher in PTS compared with PB at both fertilizer rates indicating higher microbial activity, thereby increasing the potential for nutrient immobilization and substrate breakdown. This work provides evidence that PTS decomposition is unaffected by fertilizer rate and that substrate shrinkage in containers with plants is similar to PB after two growing seasons (70 weeks), which addresses two major concerns about the use and performance of PTS for long-term nursery crop production. This work also shows that the higher microbial activity in PTS increases the potential of microbial nutrient immobilization, which is likely the reason for the lower substrate nutrient levels reported for PTS compared with PB over 70 weeks.

scholarly journals Persistence and Replacement of Preplant Fertilizers from Highly Leached Peat-based Root Media

HortScience ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 763E-763
Author(s):  
John A. Biernbaum ◽  
William R. Argo ◽  
Brian Weesies ◽  
Allen Weesies ◽  
Karen Haack
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Concentration ◽  
Water Soluble ◽  
Lower Half ◽  
Nutrient Loss ◽  
Nutrient Concentrations ◽  
Root Media ◽  
The Media ◽  
Saturated Media ◽  
Series Of Experiments ◽  
Soluble Fertilizer

A series of experiments was conducted to quantify the rate of nutrient loss from a container medium in a 15-cm-wide (1.3-liter) pot with a container capacity (CC) of 0.7 liter/pot under mist propagation and to determine the effectiveness of reapplying fertilizer to medium at 90% of CC with either top watering or subirrigation. Reducing the volume of water applied per day decreased the rate of nutrient leaching. Based on CC leached (CCL), the rate of nutrient loss was similar for all treatments. Differences in the rate of macronutrient removal from the media were measured, but, by 2 CCL, the concentration of all nutrients tested was below acceptable levels for the saturated media extract. With top watering, reapplying water-soluble fertilizer (WSF) at volumes under 0.2 liter/pot did not affect the nutrient concentration in the lower half of the pot at WSF concentrations up to 86 mol N/m3. Applying up to 0.8 liter/pot did increase nutrient concentrations in the lower half of the pot, but the media nutrient concentrations were lower than that of the applied WSF concentration. Applying WSF with subirrigation was limited by the moisture content of the media prior to the irrigation.

Water Masses Chemical Properties in the Western Tropical Atlantic Ocean

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renan Luis Evangelista Vieira ◽  
Leticia Cotrim da Cunha ◽  
Ricardo de Almeida Keim ◽  
Carlos Augusto Musetti de Assis ◽  
Jessica da Silva Nogueira ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Ocean ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Nutrient Concentration ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Intertropical Convergence Zone ◽  
Water Masses ◽  
Nutrient Concentrations ◽  
Convergence Zone ◽  
Tropical Atlantic ◽  
Tropical Atlantic Ocean

&lt;p&gt;Here we characterize the chemical properties of the water masses in the Western Tropical Atlantic Ocean according to their inorganic nutrient concentration: dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), phosphate and silicate. We collected full-depth water samples from 16 oceanographic stations along the 38&amp;#176;W transect, from 1&amp;#176;S to 15&amp;#176;N during the PIRATA-BR XVIII cruise, in October-November 2018. In this region, the surface and subsurface circulation in the Atlantic Ocean displays complex seasonal patterns, under influence of the Intertropical Convergence Zone. The samples were collected from Niskin bottles closed in ten different depths, stored frozen, and later analysed through spectrophotometry. Besides that, the CTD-O&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; data provided continuous salinity, temperature, and dissolved oxygen measurements, used to identify the water masses according to their thermohaline indexes. Six water masses were identified in the region based on their neutral density limits: Tropical Surface Water (TSW, &amp;#947;&lt;sup&gt;n&lt;/sup&gt; &lt; 24.448 kg m&lt;sup&gt;-3&lt;/sup&gt;); South and North Atlantic Central Water (SACW and NACW, &amp;#947;&lt;sup&gt;n&lt;/sup&gt; 24.448 &amp;#8211; 26.815 kg m&lt;sup&gt;-3&lt;/sup&gt;); Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW, &amp;#947;&lt;sup&gt;n&lt;/sup&gt; 26.815 &amp;#8211; 27.7153 kg m&lt;sup&gt;-3&lt;/sup&gt;); North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW, &amp;#947;&lt;sup&gt;n&lt;/sup&gt; 27.7153 &amp;#8211; 28.135 kg m&lt;sup&gt;-3&lt;/sup&gt;); and Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW, &amp;#947;&lt;sup&gt;n&lt;/sup&gt; &gt; 28.135 kg m&lt;sup&gt;-3&lt;/sup&gt;). &amp;#160;The oligotrophic TSW is almost completely depleted in nutrients; Central Waters NACW and SACW have the following concentration ranges: DIN, 5 &amp;#8211; 15 &amp;#181;mol/kg, phosphate, 0.5 &amp;#8211; 1.0 &amp;#181;mol/kg, silicate, 5 &amp;#8211; 20 &amp;#181;mol/kg); AAIW nutrient concentrations are DIN: 30 &amp;#8211; 40 &amp;#181;mol/kg, phosphate: 1.5 &amp;#8211; 2.5 &amp;#181;mol/kg, and silicate: 25 &amp;#8211; 40 &amp;#181;mol/kg; NADW nutrient concentrations are DIN: 15 &amp;#8211; 25 &amp;#181;mol/kg, phosphate: 1.0 &amp;#8211; 1.5 &amp;#181;mol/kg) , and silicate: 20 &amp;#8211; 45 &amp;#181;mol/kg; and AABW nutrient concentration ranges are: 40 &amp;#8211; 80 &amp;#181;mol/kg silicate, 30 &amp;#8211; 35 &amp;#181;mol/kg DIN, and 1.5 &amp;#8211; 2.5 &amp;#181;mol/kg phosphate. North of 5&amp;#176;N up to 15&amp;#176;N, there is a region of lower oxygen and higher phosphate concentrations, comprising the central water and the upper AAIW layers, extending from 200 m to 800 m. This corresponds to the area under influence of the eastward flowing North Equatorial Counter Current (NECC) and North Equatorial Under Current (NEUC), which are both, in turn, influenced by the position of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Further study directions include a detailed study of the multiple source waters to this central layer, associated to the regional circulation, and possible linking to the eastern tropical Atlantic oxygen minimum zone.&lt;/p&gt;

Diatom- and Chironomid-Inferred Eutrophication of Bouchie Lake, British Columbia

2005 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 418-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus L. Heinrichs ◽  
Brian F. Cumming ◽  
Kathleen R. Laird ◽  
J. Sanford Hart
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Head Capsule ◽  
Relative Increase ◽  
Nutrient Concentrations ◽  
The Past ◽  
Nutrient Levels ◽  
Lower Head ◽  
Lower Oxygen ◽  
Historical Land Use

Abstract Diatom and chironomid analysis of sediments encompassing the past 400 years from Bouchie Lake, British Columbia, suggests two distinct periods of limnological conditions. Prior to 1950 AD, Fragilaria construens and F. pinnata are the most common diatom species, and Chironomus, Procladius and Tanytarsini dominate the chironomid record. Moderately low nutrient concentrations consistent with oligo-mesotrophic lakes are inferred. From 1950, the diatom assemblage is dominated by Stephanodiscus parvus, a eutrophic indicator, whereas the chironomid communities show a relative increase in littoral taxa coincident with lower head capsule abundance. Higher nutrient levels, specifically total phosphorus, which increased from 8 µg L-1 prior to 1950 to 20 µg L-1 currently, are coincident with midge communities indicative of lower oxygen concentrations. Observed biotic changes and nutrient levels inferred from the sediment core correspond to historical land-use changes.

Chemistry of Variable Charge Soils

1997 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Pollution ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Soil Management ◽  
Soil Productivity ◽  
Basic Difference ◽  
The Past ◽  
Variable Charge ◽  
Constant Charge ◽  
Variable Charge Soils

This book, based on research carried out at the Academia Sinica over the past 30 years, explains the basic difference between the variable charge soils of tropical and subtropical regions, and the constant charge soils of temperate regions. It will focus on the chemical properties of the variable charge soils--properties which have important bearing on soil management practices, including maximizing soil productivity and combating soil pollution.

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