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The Effect of Time of Top-Dressing on Uptake of Phosphorus and Potassium by an Established Stand of Alfalfa¹

ABSTRACT

Plots of established alfalfa were top-dressed with radioactive superphosphate and half the plots received potash. Top-dressing dates varied from September to the following June. Entire plants were sampled at various periods after top-dressing and divided into tops, crowns, and roots for analyses.

Conclusions were (1) P and K are translocated to crowns from roots and tops during autumn, (2) top-dressed P is taken up by alfalfa even in the winter or dormant season, (3) in spring a rapid translocation of P and K from roots and crowns to tops occurs, (4) K fertilization does not affect P uptake from soil by alfalfa, (5) P fertilization does not significantly affect K uptake from soil by alfalfa although trends are more suggestive than the effect of K fertilization on P uptake, and (6) top-dressed P was taken up to a greater extent from Hagerstown silt loam than from Nicholson silt loam which was expected in that chemical soil tests showed more available P in the Nicholson.

¹ Contribution from the Department of Agronomy, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Ky. Published with the permission of the Director of the Kentucky Agr. Exp. Sta. Presented at the Sectional Meeting of the Soil Science Society at the Association of Southern Agricultural Workers Convention, February 9–11, 1953, New Orleans, La.

² Agronomist and, formerly, Head of Department, respectively; M. E. Weeks is now with the T.V.A., Knoxville, Tenn.

Received for publication June 28, 1954.