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Growth, Water use and nutrient uptake from the subsoil by grass swards

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

E. A. Garwood  and
T. B. Williams
E. A. Garwood
Affiliation:
The Grassland Research Institute, Hurley, Maidenhead, Berks.
T. B. Williams
Affiliation:
The Grassland Research Institute, Hurley, Maidenhead, Berks.
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Extract

1. Plant nutrients, N, P and K, were applied to the soil surface or injected at a depth of 18 in. or 30 in. in perennial ryegrass swards, when the upper horizons of the soil profile were dry.

2. When the surface soil was dry and a soil water deficit of 2 in. existed there was no response to surface applied N but injection of N into moist soil at a depth of 18 in. produced a marked increase of growth. At this depth of injection there was a significant positive interaction between N and PK.

3. There was a substantial recovery in the herbage (59–80%) of the nitrogen applied to the subsoil, provided water was available in the soil horizon in which the nitrogen was applied.

4. Failure of a grass sward to regrow after cutting when the water available to the plant has been removed from the uppermost soil horizons is largely due to a deficiency of plant nutrients in the subsoil. The major deficiency is that of nitrogen.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 69 , Issue 1 , August 1967 , pp. 125 - 130
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1967

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