THE EXTRACTION BY SOIL AND ABSORPTION BY PLANTS OF APPLIED ZINC AND CADMIUM

In five consecutive years lettuce, spinach, spring wheat, endive and maize were grown in pots and the effects of 'native' and soil-applied Zn and Cd on plant Zn and Cd concentrations were studied. The normal interactive pattern was antagonistic, Zn reducing plant Cd uptake, and conversely, but less so. Only in loam soil Zn and Cd were synergistic to some extent, plant Zn uptake increasing with applied Cd. When relating total soil Cd/Zn to plant Cd/Zn separate sets of data could be distinguished for loam and sandy soil, each fitting a straight line. The use of 0.1 M CaCl2 instead of 'total' extractable soil Cd/Zn makes the two sets of data to coalesce around a single straight line. All crops were found to show a positive linear relationship between 0.1 M CaCl2-extractable soil Cd/Zn and plant Cd/Zn.