Facebook
X (Twitter)
Reddit
Pinterest
Tumblr
Delicious
LinkedIn
StumbleUpon
Nutrient Management Research Database
General Information
Research Title
Research Specifications
Authors
Summary/Abstract from Original Source
A variety of experiments were conducted in 2005-06 to clarify issues regarding calcium availability in California soils, and the agronomic value of calcium fertigation on vegetable crops. A set of 23 representative agricultural soils was collected from fields in vegetable rotations in the Sacramento, Salinas, San Joaquin and Santa Maria Valleys. These soils were evaluated for calcium availability by two common laboratory techniques, ammonium acetate extraction and saturated paste extraction. To simulate the calcium concentration in actual soil solution, samples of all soils at field capacity moisture content were subjected to high-speed centrifugation, with the extracted soil solution analyzed for cation content. A greenhouse experiment evaluated lettuce Ca uptake from 15 of these soils; the study confirmed that soil solution Ca was the most accurate measure of Ca availability, followed by saturated paste extraction; exchangeable Ca was a poor measure of soil Ca availability. Saturated paste Ca was well correlated with soil solution Ca, and is the preferred method of analysis for routine soil testing (centrifugation is a research technique, not well suited to routine use by commercial laboratories). Soil calcium availability was generally high, ranging from 5-80 meq/liter (100-1,600 PPM) in soil solution; across soils, soluble Ca averaged 33 meq/liter (660 PPM), which represented 55% of cation milliequivalents. This level of Ca availability should provide adequate plant nutrition. The role of soil Ca availability in the development of tipburn in romaine lettuce was evaluated by surveying 15 commercial fields in the Salinas Valley. At harvest, plants were rated for the severity of tipburn on inner leaves (those most prone to the disorder); samples of inner leaves were analyzed for Ca concentration. Soil samples were analyzed for available Ca by saturated paste extraction. Three fields showed a significant level of tipburn. There was no correlation among tipburn severity, inner leaf Ca concentration and soil Ca availability, suggesting that factors other than Ca availability controlled tipburn development. Restricted crop transpiration appeared to be one of those factors; two of the three fields with tipburn encountered extremely low evapotranspiration conditions in the week before harvest due to fog off the ocean. A total of 5 field trials (3 on romaine lettuce, one on cantaloupe and one on honeydew) were conducted to determine the effects of fertigation of soluble calcium fertilizers [calcium nitrate (CN), calcium thiosulfate (CATS) and calcium chloride (CC)] through drip irrigation on crop yield, quality and Ca status. One to three fertigations were applied, at seasonal rates up to 30 lb Ca/acre. Calcium fertigation had no effect on lettuce yield or Ca concentration of inner leaves; tipburn was present in only one field, and Ca fertigation had no effect on tipburn severity. Similarly, Ca fertigation did not influence melon yield, fruit firmness (at harvest or after cold storage), or flesh Ca concentration. The effect of calcium enrichment of irrigation water on water movement through soils was investigated. In a laboratory assay the effect of adding 10 meq Ca/liter (200 PPM) to water on the rate of capillary water movement through three soils of varying Ca/Mg ratios was determined. In a field trial the effect of fertigation with CN, CATS or CC on root zone water distribution was investigated. In neither experiment did Ca enrichment of irrigation water modify water movement in soil.
Research Highlights
Design and Methods
- While most common soil test methods show that California soils have adequate calcium, these tests are not always reliable metrics for plant available calcium.
- This study evaluated several metrics for measuring soil calcium availability: ammonium acetate extraction, soil solution Ca, saturated paste extraction, and exchangeable Ca.
- The role of Ca in romaine lettuce tipburn was also evaluated.
- The effect of fertigated soluble calcium fertilizers on crop yield and Ca status was investigated.
- The response of soil water movement to irrigation water calcium enrichment was also evaluated.
Results
- Saturated paste extract was deemed the most effective method for common laboratory testing of Ca availability. The results of the saturated paste extract analysis were reflective of plant Ca levels.
- There was no correlation among tipburn severity, inner leaf Ca concentration and soil Ca availability, suggesting that factors other than Ca availability controlled tipburn development.
- Calcium fertigation had no effect on lettuce yield or Ca concentration of inner leaves; tipburn was present in only one field, and Ca fertigation had no effect on tipburn severity. Similarly, Ca fertigation did not influence melon yield, fruit firmness (at harvest or after cold storage), or flesh Ca concentration.
- Ca application in irrigation had had little effect on water movement in soils.
- These results suggest that the prevalence of tipburn, a sign of Ca deficiency, results from insufficient calcium movement within plants. The effects of weather are more important than calcium availability.
Additional Information
Tags (links to other subject matter in database)
Related Research in Fresno, Yolo, San Joaquin, Sacramento, Monterey Counties
- Local Diffusion Networks Act as Pathways to Sustainable Agriculture in the Sacramento River Valley (Butte, Colusa, Contra Costa, Glenn, Sacramento, Shasta, Siskiyou, Solano, Sutter, Tehama, Yolo)
- Processing Tomato Production in California (Colusa, Fresno, Kings, Merced, San Joaquin, Solano, Stanislaus, Sutter, Yolo)
- Development of a Nitrogen Fertilizer Recommendation Model to Improve N-Use Efficiency and Alleviate Nitrate Pollution to Groundwater From Almond Orchards (Colusa, Yolo)
- Iceberg Lettuce Production in California (Contra Costa, Fresno, Imperial, Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Ventura)
- Subsurface drip irrigation of row crops: a review of 15 years of research at the Water Management Research Laboratory (Fresno)
- On-Farm assessment of Soil Quality in California's Central Valley (Fresno)
- Effect of Irrigation Frequency on Subsurface Drip Irrigated Vegetables (Fresno)
- Tillage and cover cropping affect crop yields and soil carbon in the San Joaquin Valley, California (Fresno)
- Excess nitrogen raises nectarine susceptibility to disease and insects (Fresno)
- Precision overhead irrigation is suitable for several Central Valley crops (Fresno)
- Onion Growth, Yield, and Production Costs as Affected by Irrigation System (Fresno)
- Leaf Lettuce Production in California (Fresno, Kern, Kings, Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz)
- Nitrogen Mineralization Potential as Influenced by Microbial Biomass, Cotton Residues and Temperature (Fresno, Kings)
- Role of green waste compost in the production of N2O from agricultural soils (Fresno, Monterey, Solano)
- Quantifying the Effects of Green Waste Compost Application, Water Content and Nitrogen Fertilization on Nitrous Oxide Emissions in 10 Agricultural Soils (Fresno, Monterey, Solano, Stanislaus, Yolo)
- Soil sampling protocol reliably estimates preplant NO3- in SDI tomatoes (Fresno, San Joaquin, Yolo)
- Calcium Fertigation Ineffective at Increasing Fruit Yield and Quality of Muskmelon and Honeydew Melons in California (Fresno, Yolo)
- Modeling shows that alternative soil management can decrease greenhouse gases (Fresno, Yolo)
- Potassium Fertilization and Diagnostic Criteria for Pistachio Trees (Glenn, Madera, Yolo)
- Effects of Potassium Fertilization on Soil Potassium Distribution and Balance in Pistachio Orchards (Madera, Yolo)
- Lettuce Response to Phosphorus Fertilization in High Phosphorus Soils (Monterey)
- Brassica Cover Crops: Impacts on Plant Nutrition and Pest Management (Monterey)
- Cover crops and cultivation: Impacts on soil N dynamics and microbiological function in a Mediterranean vineyard agroecosystem (Monterey)
- Efficient Use of Phosphorus Fertilizer in California Vegetable Production (Monterey)
- Pre-sidedress Soil Nitrate Testing (PSNT) Improves N management in Lettuce Production (Monterey)
- Nitrogen Requirements and N Status Determination of Lettuce (Monterey)
- Nitrogen dynamics in an organic strawberry production system (Monterey)
- Cover crops enhance soil organic matter, carbon dynamics and microbiological function in a vineyard agroecosystem (Monterey)
- Vineyard weed management practices influence nitrate leaching and nitrous oxide emissions (Monterey)
- Strategies for germinating lettuce with drip irrigation (Monterey)
- Pre-sidedress soil nitrate testing (PSNT) improves N management in lettuce production (Monterey)
- Transition to large-scale organic vegetable production in the Salinas Valley, California (Monterey)
- Fertilizer Use Efficiency and Influence of Rootstocks on Uptake and Accumulation of Nutrients in Wine Grapes Grown in the Coastal Valleys of California (Monterey, Napa, San Luis Obispo)
- Vegetable Production Best Management Practices to Minimize Nutrient Loss (Monterey, San Benito, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz)
- Efficient Phosphorus Management in Coastal Vegetable Production (Monterey, San Benito, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz)
- Controlled-release Fertilizer for Vegetable Production: The California Experience (Monterey, Santa Barbara)
- Reevaluating tissue analysis as a management tool for lettuce and cauliflower (Monterey, Santa Barbara)
- Biochar does not mitigate field-scale N2O emissions in a Northern California vineyard: An assessment across two years (Sacramento)
- Indigenous Nitrogen Supply of Rice Is Predicted by Soil Organic Carbon (Sacramento)
- Soil nitrous oxide emissions in forage systems fertilized with liquid dairy manure and inorganic fertilizers (Sacramento, San Joaquin)
- Winter cover crops before late-season processing tomatoes for soil quality and production benefits (Sutter, Yolo)
- Reduced nitrous oxide emissions and increased yields in California tomato cropping systems under drip irrigation and fertigation (Yolo)
- Microbial responses and nitrous oxide emissions during wetting and drying of organically and conventionally managed soil under tomatoes (Yolo)
- Changes in soil chemical properties resulting from organic and low-input farming practices (Yolo)
- Processing Tomato Yield and Fruit Quality Improve with Potassium Fertigation (Yolo)
- Nitrogen Requirements of Drip-irrigated Processing Tomatoes (Yolo)
- Site Specific Farming Information Systems in Tomato-Based Rotation in the Sacramento Valley (Yolo)
- Humic substances generally ineffective in improving vegetable crop nutrient uptake or productivity (Yolo)
- Cover cropping affects soil N(2)O and CO(2) emissions differently depending on type of irrigation (Yolo)
- Transitioning from standard to minimum tillage: Trade-offs between soil organic matter stabilization, nitrous oxide emissions, and N availability in irrigated cropping systems (Yolo)
- Tillage and seasonal emissions of CO2, N20 and NO across a seed bed and at the field scale in a Mediterranean climate (Yolo)
- Nitrogen and carbon mineralization dynamics of manures and composts (Yolo)
- Who's your Farmer California? Cover cropping with Martin Burger (Yolo)
- Mustard cover crops are ineffective in suppressing soilborne disease or improving processing tomato yield (Yolo)
- Assessing drivers of N2O production in California tomato cropping systems (Yolo)
- An estimation of annual nitrous oxide emissions and soil quality following the amendment of high temperature walnut shell biochar and compost to a small scale vegetable crop rotation (Yolo)
- Precision Fertigation in Orchards: Development of a Spatially Variable Microsprinkler System (Yolo)
- Higher flexibility in input N:P ratios results in more balanced phosphorus budgets in two long-term experimental agroecosystems (Yolo)
- Tightly-Coupled Plant-Soil Nitrogen Cycling: Comparison of Organic Farms across an Agricultural Landscape (Yolo)
- The effect of nitrogen source and crop rotation on the growth and yield of processing tomatoes (Yolo)
- Nitrogen supply effects on partitioning of dry matter and nitrogen to grain of irrigated wheat (Yolo, Fresno)