The Calcicole-Calcifuge Problem: II. The Effects of Mineral Nutrition on Seedling Growth in Solution Culture

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Abstract
Seedlings of Scabiosa columbaria were grown in (a) inorganic solutions of varied pH, Ca, and Fe concentrations, and (b) in field soils solutions which were considered to be toxic or deficient in respect to chemical constituents. Neither inorganic solutions of the pH values of soils used in the field nor a hundred-fold range of Ca ion concentration had the drastic effect of the acid soil solution, which produced symptoms of root inhibition seen in the field. These symptoms could also be induced in acid inorganic solutions by the addition of an Al salt. Al was detected in the soil solution and the inhibition was removed by raising the pH of each solution. This supported the view that it was Al in the ionic form which was toxic and that it was this element which was the primary cause of the exclusion of Scabiosa from the acid Greensand soil investigated. Some experiments with Holcus mollis are also described.