Synopsis
Presoaking increased emergence of RS610 grain sorghum slightly (maximum 26%) where the soil moisture tension exceeded 1/3 atm. and salt concentrations did not exceed 10 mmhos./cm. Critical total soil moisture stress for the variety studied was about 8 atms. Increasing moisture tension and/or soil salinity increased emergence time and decreased total emergence.
Water applied by periodic sprinkling of surface‐mulched soil resulted in greater salt removal and higher leaching efficiency than did either flooding or periodic sprinkling of bare soil. Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) bur and chopped shrubbery mulches were about equally effective. Flooding and sprinkling bare soil decreased salt concentration in the surface 2 feet of the soil profile, but salt accumulated below a depth of 3 feet when compared with check soil that received only rainfall. Similarly, salts were removed from all depths to 5 feet where surface mulches were present. The salt leaching efficiency decreased from above 90% in the surface foot to approximately 33% in the fifth foot of surface‐mulched soil. The higher leaching efficiency for mulched soil was attributed to the probably reduced evaporation under mulches that lessened upward movement of water.
Synopsis
Phosphorus uptake by grain sorghum decreased with decreasing moisture content of the fertilizer zone and became inconsequential when the soil reached the vicinity of wilting point. Nitrogen uptake was less sensitive. It continued after phosphorus uptake ceased.
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A cotton bur mulch facilitated leaching of soluble salts by rainfall. Salt concentration was reduced in the surface 30 inches of soil to a level below that considered detrimental to growth of field crops. The high efficiency of salt removal by rainfall was attributed to flushing of salts from conducting pores when rains occurred combined with diffusion of salts from nonconducting to conducting pores between rains. Exchangeable Na percentage was also reduced to a low level. A ridge‐furrow system facilitated leaching of salts from below the furrows, but less effectively than the mulch system. Salts returned to the leached zones beneath the furrows, whereas no appreciable return was evident under the mulch. Either practice may prove useful in management of saline soils of the study area and similar locations.
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