US EPA

4843616 

Technical Report 

Effects of fertilizer on concentrations of copper, molybdenum and sulfur in subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum) 

Reddy, GD; Alston, AM; Tiller, KG 

1981 

21 

112 

491-497 

HEEP COPYRIGHT: BIOL ABS. In pot experiments, subterranean clover (T. subterraneum) was grown on 4 soils, 2 lateritic podzolic soils, a red-brown earth and a calcareous sand, to which various combinations of P (0-45 ppm as KH2PO4), S (0-45 ppm as CaSO4), Cu (0-10 ppm as CuSO4) and Mo (0-1 ppm as sodium molybdate) had been added. Applications of S and Cu had little effect on the dry weight of the clover tops on any soil and no fertilizer affected dry weight on the calcareous sand. On the other soils, dry weight was increased by P and by Mo when applied in combination with P. Cu treatment consistently increased the concentration of that element in the tops of the plants. On the lateritic podzolic soils and the red-brown earth, S generally increased Cu and S concentrations but decreased that of Mo; P decreased Cu and S but increased the concentration of Mo. On the calcareous sand, application of S had no effect on Cu but decreased Mo and increased S concentration; treatment with P decreased the concentration of Cu but had no effect on S or Mo in the plant tops. There were significant interactions between all treatments. These were discussed in relation to fertilizer practice and animal health.