Cation-anion relationships in crop nutrition: I. Factors affecting cations in Italian rye-grass

Abstract

The chemical composition of plants depends on many things, the species, the type of soil, the climate, the manuring, and it also changes during the growing season as different results can be obtained from samples of the same plant taken at different times. For plant analysis to be used in assessing the nutrient status and manurial requirements of crops there is need for knowledge not only about the above factors which can affect the chemical composition of crops but also about others that are less obvious, such as ion interactions. Ions can interact in two ways called antagonism and synergism; antagonism means that the uptake of one ion decreases the uptake of another ion and synergism that uptake of one increases the uptake of another.