STUDIES ON BIOLOGICAL FIXATION OF POTASSIUM

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Abstract
No significant loss of microorganisms from the soil occurs during leaching with neutral N ammonium acetate. Studies were undertaken to find whether K could be changed biologically from a leachable to a nonleachable state subsequent to the incorporation of organic amendments in Wooster silt loam. Greenhouse-incubated Wooster silt loam (to which fresh sweet clover and finely chopped oat straw were added at 8 C/N ratios and 1 N level) fixed biologically up to 200 pounds of K per acre in an unleachable form. The amt. of leachable K varied markedly in a periodic manner. No appreciable percentage of Ca was fixed. Mechanical impedance of the exchange complex does not explain the biological fixation observed.