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Possible Relationships of Cation-Exchange Capacity of Plant Roots to Cation Uptake¹

ABSTRACT

The K, Ca, and Mg contents of different plant species grown under similar conditions could be related in a majority of cases by CEC₁/CEC₂ = K₂/K₁ = (Ca₁ + Mg₁/Ca₂ + Mg₂)^1/2, where the subscripts 1 and 2 represent different species. It was shown that K₁/K₂ should be expected for single-salt solutions while K₂/K₁ is expected when K is mixed with divalent cations. Data on root CEC and plant contents of K, Ca, and Mg obtained from a large number of citrus, corn, and soybeans grown in soil gave correlation coefficients as follows:
Even though the correlations were significant, the relations appeared to be far from simple and in some cases did not hold. For example, plants grown in sand corresponded less in the divalent ratios because of high Mg contents in corn. In some cases CEC ratios corresponded well with K₁/K₂ rather than K₂/K₁.

¹ Contribution from the Department of Subtropical Horticulture, University of California, Los Angeles. Presented before Div. II, Soil Science Society of America, Atlanta, Ga., Nov. 22, 1957.

² Senior Laboratory Technician and Associate Professor of Subtropical Horticulture, respectively.

Received for publication February 17, 1958. Accepted for publication May 22, 1958.