Phosphorus adsorption characteristics of Hawaiian soils and their relationships to equilibrium phosphorus concentrations required for maximum growth of Millet

Summary Phosphorus adsor tion isotherms were constructed for six Latosols and one calcareous soil from Hawaii which differed greatly in their phosphorus adsorption capacities. Equilibration was in 0.01M CaCl₂ at 25°C for 6 or 8 days. P adsorption properties of the soils were characterised employing the linear form of Langmuir's equation and also by calculating the amount of P adsorbed between equilibrium concentrations of 0.25 to 0.35 ppm (estimates of P buffering capacities), following the procedure of Oaanne and Shaw¹³. The isotherms of all the soils were found to fit the Langmuir equation at low equilibrium concentrations (< 5 ppm) and the P adsorption maxima ranged from 520 to 10 500 ppm. The buffering capacity estimates correlated closely (r = 0.950) with the adsorption maxima of soils. However, in two soils, the estimates were much lower than expected from their adsorption maxima.Millet (Pennisetum typhoides) was grown in these soils in pots, at 6 phosphorus levels corresponding to 6 equilibrium concentrations chosen from the phosphorus adsorption isotherms. Equilibrium concentrations at maximum growth of millet (C_max) in Latosols varied inversely with the adsorption maxima of the soils. The relationship between these two parameters was expressed by the equation CmaX = a,b^–k, where C_max = equilibrium P concentration at maximum growth of millet, b = P adsorption maximum and a and k are constants. Quantitative expression of the constants are useful as they enable predictions of CmaX for a particular crop from the phosphorus adsorption maximum. This relation was found to hold also for the data on limed acid soils published by Woodruff and Kamprath²⁰.A part of the Ph.D. Thesis approved by the University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.A. (1971).