INFLUENCE OF CATION-EXCHANGE REACTIONS ON RETENTION AND AVAILABILITY OF CATIONS IN SANDY SOILS

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Abstract
The relative ease of release of Ca, Mg, K, and H when adsorbed on some Florida surface soils was detd. Bray''s f values, which were calculated from relative uptake of the above cations, indicate that the colloids in sandy soils such as those of Lakeland, Blanton, Ft. Meade and Eustis series adsorb H ions more strongly and K ions much less strongly than do the silt loam soils studied by Bray. The average f values for K, Mg, Ca, and H were found to be 11.1, 3.0, 1.0, and 0.16 respectively, when the cations were adsorbed on the 4 Florida soils as compared with 2.2, 1.6, 1.0, and 0.35 obtained by Bray for the same cations adsorbed on silt loam soils from Illinois. The fact that K is so weakly adsorbed and cannot successfully compete with other ions added in the fertilizer and in insect sprays would account for its rapid leach-ability from these soils under all pH conditions.