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Abbreviations: DW, dry weight; LP, linear-plateau; QP, quadratic-plateau; STK, soil test K.
P
otassium fertilization effects on corn and soybean grain yield have been
studied for many years, including in Iowa and the Corn Belt. Iowa research
(Bordoli and Mallarino, 1998; Borges and Mallarino, 2000, 2001, 2003;
Mallarino et al., 2004, 2011a) showed that corn and soybean responses to K fertil-
izer were large and likely only when soil test K (STK) was in the Optimum or lower
interpretation categories (<171 mg K kg-1, ammonium-acetate test, 15-cm sam-
pling depth) as defined in Iowa (Sawyer et al., 2002). Work in Minnesota showed
that yield responses on a Webster soil testing 150 mg K kg-1 occurred in only 3 of
14 site-years (Randall et al., 1997). Research in Ontario, Canada, showed that corn
responded to direct K fertilization (Vyn and Janovicek, 2001) and soybean grain
yield to direct or residual K fertilization (Yin and Vyn, 2002a, 2002b) when STK
levels were <135 mg K kg -1. However, this research included few K application
rates and was not very useful to assess needed K rates in deficient soils. Ebelhar
and Varsa (2000) showed that corn yield responded up to 168 kg K ha-1, however,
soybean yield decreased, on average, with rates above 56 kg K ha-1. The authors
concluded that soybean was more sensitive than corn to higher salt concentrations
with higher rates of K. Research in North Carolina showed that corn responded up
Research funded in part by the Iowa Soybean Association and the International Plant Nutrition Institute.
Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 77:630642
doi:10.2136/sssaj2012.0223
Received 18 July 2012.
*Corresponding author (apmallar@iastate.edu).
Soil Science Society of America, 5585 Guilford Rd., Madison WI 53711 USA
All rights reserved. No part of this periodical may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by
any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage
and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Permission for printing and for
reprinting the material contained herein has been obtained by the publisher.
www.soils.org/publications/sssaj 631
accumulation in vegetative tissue compared Table 1. Locations, soil types, and soil characterization information for twenty 2-yr
field trials.
with accumulation in grain. Therefore, the
objectives of this study were to (i) evaluate Soil type and characterization
Location County Series Classification Clay OM pH Ca Mg
the relative magnitude of K fertilization ef-
g kg-1 mg kg-1
fects on corn and soybean grain yield and
1 Boone Canisteo Typic Endoaquolls 330 36 6.3 2930 500
both K concentration and accumulation in
2 Boone Canisteo Typic Endoaquolls 130 38 6.6 3040 420
young plants, mature leaves at early repro- 3 Boone Nicollet Aquic Hapludolls 270 25 7.2 2410 290
ductive stages, and grain; and (ii) establish 4 Boone Nicollet Aquic Hapludolls 310 59 7.6 6740 290
tissue critical concentrations for corn and 5 Boone Webster Typic Endoaquolls 202 67 7.3 5190 355
soybean young plants and leaves at early re- 6 Boone Webster Typic Endoaquolls 157 47 6.6 3523 442
productive stages. 7 Floyd Clyde Typic Endoaquolls 110 84 6.7 4743 634
8 Floyd Kenyon Typic Hapludolls 310 75 6.7 4547 638
MATERIALS AND METHODS 9 Hancock Nicollet Aquic Hapludolls 350 54 5.7 3685 621
Sites, Trials, and Treatments 10 Hancock Canisteo Typic Endoaquolls 330 47 6.7 4708 609
Twenty 2-yr trials with corn and soy- 11 OBrien Primghar Aquic Hapludolls 430 40 6.2 3300 690
12 OBrien Primghar Aquic Hapludolls 206 52 6.2 3754 662
bean were established in Iowa from 2003 to
13 OBrien Galva Typic Hapludolls 218 53 6.3 4010 717
2006 (eight in 2003, four in 2004, and eight
14 OBrien Galva Typic Hapludolls 430 42 6.5 3480 770
in 2005) at Iowa State University research
15 Washington Mahaska Aquertic Argiudolls 142 44 6.4 2790 585
centers located in Boone, Floyd, Hancock, 16 Washington Nira Aquic Argiudolls 370 35 6.0 2340 580
OBrien, and Washington counties. These 17 Washington Taintor Vertic Argiaquolls 370 34 6.2 2590 560
counties are in the central, northeast, north- 18 Washington Mahaska Aquertic Argiudolls 172 44 6.3 2720 584
ern, northwest, and southeast regions of the 19 Boone Clarion Typic Hapludolls 157 35 6.7 2674 359
state, respectively. The fields had been man- 20 Boone Clarion Typic Hapludolls 129 40 6.7 2878 356
aged with corn-soybean rotations and encom- Soil test values for a 15-cm sampling depth. OM, organic matter.
passed wide ranges of STK. Table 1 shows in-
formation for the soils at each location. There were 2-yr trials at maintain soil test P in the High Iowa soil test category (21 to
20 locations for a total of 40 site-years. Ten trials began with corn 30 mg P kg-1, Bray-P1 test). The P and K fertilizers always were
and ten with soybean, and crops were switched the second year to spread by hand in the fall, so they were incorporated into the
establish cornsoybean or soybeancorn sequences at each loca- soil immediately after application in fields going to soybean and
tion. Table 2 shows for each location and year
Table 2. Soil test K and crop information for each year of twenty 2-yr field trials.
the crop grown, corn hybrids or soybean va-
rieties, and STK values. Hereon, the code for First crop Second crop
each site-year will consist of a location code (1 Location Year STK Crop Hyb/Var Year STK Crop Hyb/Var
1 2005 163 Soybean P 92M70 2006 124 Corn P 34A16
through 20) followed by a to denote the first
2 2005 139 Soybean PB 2643 2006 122 Corn P 34A16
crop or a b to denote the second crop, and
3 2005 150 Corn P 34H31 2006 109 Soybean PB 2994
each site-year will be referred to as a Site (1a
4 2005 234 Corn P 34H31 2006 162 Soybean PB 2994
and 1b through 20a and 20b). 5 2003 153 Soybean AG 2601 2004 125 Corn DK 5824
Treatments for the first year of all trials 6 2003 133 Corn DK 5824 2004 119 Soybean P 92M30
were five broadcast K fertilizer rates of 0, 28, 7 2004 196 Corn DK 5878 2005 173 Soybean CW 2130
56, 112, and 168 kg K ha-1 using granulated 8 2004 170 Soybean CW 2130 2005 162 Corn DK 5878
KCl (52 g K kg-1). No K fertilizer was ap- 9 2004 162 Corn GH 8223 2005 158 Soybean C 2089
plied for the second year, so the second-year 10 2004 138 Soybean L 2038 2005 156 Corn GH 8223
crops evaluated residual effects of K applied 11 2005 213 Soybean K 223 2006 151 Corn P 38H64
before the first crop. Plots of each trial mea- 12 2003 154 Soybean K 223 2004 181 Corn GH 8352
sured 12.2 to 18.3 m in length and either 9.1 13 2003 173 Corn DK 4628 2004 184 Soybean K 223
or 12.2 m in width. The treatments and four 14 2005 170 Corn FC 7649 2006 150 Soybean K 223
15 2003 141 Corn G 8566 2004 131 Soybean P 93B09
replications were arranged as a randomized
16 2005 148 Soybean AG 3602 2006 148 Corn P 34A16
complete-block design in all trials. Following
17 2005 134 Corn DK 6144 2006 129 Soybean P 93M42
the most common practices in Iowa, fields 18 2003 130 Soybean AG 3302 2004 127 Corn G 8566
with corn residue were chisel-plowed in the 19 2003 102 Soybean AG 2601 2004 103 Corn P 35Y65
fall and disked in spring whereas sites with 20 2003 117 Corn P 34M95 2004 120 Soybean DK 2652
soybean residue only were disked in spring. STK, soil test K (15-cm depth) before the first crop and before applying treatments and for
Phosphorus fertilizer was applied as needed nonfertilized plots before the second crop.
HYb/Var, hybrid or variety: AG, Asgrow; CR, Cropland; CW, Crows; DK, Dekalb; FH, Fielders
across all plots at each location to increase or
Choice; G, Garst; GH, Golden Harvest, K, Kruger; L, Latham; P, Pioneer; PB, Prairie Brand.
www.soils.org/publications/sssaj 633
Table 3. Corn and soybean grain yield for each site and K treat-
and 15a) and soybean yield also at four sites (Sites 2a, 5a, 12a, ment applied the first year of 2-yr trials.
and 18a). For second-year crops (Table 3), yield increases from K
Treatment (kg K ha-1)
applied before the first-year crops were observed at five corn sites
Crop Site 0 28 56 112 168 Max
(Sites 5b, 10b, 11b, 18b, and 19b) and three soybean sites (Sites
Mg ha-1 kg K ha1
6b, 14b, and 20b). Therefore, yield responses were observed in First-year crop
nine corn sites and seven soybean sites. For the responsive first- Corn 3a 12.08 12.92 11.79 12.12 11.67 ns
year crops, the K rate that maximized yield ranged from 106 to 4a 12.74 12.79 13.07 12.46 12.45 ns
127 kg K ha-1 for corn and from 71 to 117 kg K ha-1 for soy- 6a 8.01 8.35 8.68 9.35 9.31 110
7a 12.75 12.92 12.89 13.05 13.11 ns
bean. For the responsive second-year crops, the highest K rate ap-
9a 12.69 12.69 12.30 12.20 12.91 ns
plied the first year maximized corn yield but 28 to 168 kg K ha-1 13a 10.37 11.35 11.03 11.36 10.74 127
maximized soybean yield. Mean grain yield across the respon- 14a 11.33 11.55 11.66 11.78 11.76 106
sive first-year crops showed a maximum and plateau within the 15a 11.90 11.65 12.16 12.69 12.69 106
range of K rates used (not shown). On average, corn responded 17a 10.41 10.38 9.66 10.08 10.11 ns
linearly up to 91 kg K ha-1 and soybean responded linearly up 20a 10.34 10.33 10.79 10.42 10.51 ns
Soybean 1a 3.72 3.51 3.52 3.53 3.60 ns
to 103 kg K ha-1. In the second year, the average response to K
2a 3.60 3.66 3.84 3.93 3.78 104
fertilizer applied the first year was linear for both crops (up to 5a 2.31 2.26 2.32 2.68 2.54 117
168 kg K ha-1, which was highest K rate used in the study). 8a 4.30 4.26 4.27 4.19 4.14 ns
Yield responses (Table 3) and STK levels either before K 10a 3.35 3.35 3.24 3.49 3.35 ns
fertilization or of control plots the second year (Table 2) in- 11a 3.72 3.75 3.83 3.80 3.84 ns
12a 3.02 3.06 3.18 3.24 3.18 71
dicate that according to Iowa STK interpretations (Sawyer et
16a 4.80 4.37 4.66 4.51 4.57 ns
al., 2002), responses occurred in 5 of 11 sites testing less than 18a 3.08 3.19 3.30 3.42 3.46 92
Optimum (< 131 mg K kg-1), 7 of 22 testing Optimum (130 to 19a 2.10 1.87 2.03 2.27 1.91 ns
170 mg K kg-1), and 2 of 5 testing in the lower portion of the High Second-year crop
class (173 and 181 mg K kg-1). Only two sites tested Very High, Corn 1b 12.23 12.09 11.94 11.59 11.61 ns
and no yield response was observed. The probability of a yield 2b 11.51 11.50 11.27 12.07 11.38 ns
5b 10.78 11.33 10.65 13.55 13.52 168
response for each of the STK interpretation classes is 80, 60, 25,
8b 13.43 13.49 13.32 13.69 13.61 ns
5, and <1% for Very Low, Low, Optimum, High, and Very High 10b 11.58 12.03 11.78 11.68 12.20 168
(Sawyer et al., 2002); and fertilization based on crop K removal 11b 9.36 9.39 9.78 9.82 9.98 168
is recommended to maintain an Optimum STK level. Work in 12b 5.00 4.92 4.99 5.15 5.38 ns
Minnesota showed that yield responses on a Webster soil initially 16b 11.94 11.89 11.98 12.22 12.33 ns
18b 11.47 12.48 12.04 12.10 13.27 168
testing 150 mg K kg-1 occurred in only 3 of 14 site-years (Randall
19b 11.29 12.29 11.74 11.49 12.03 28
et al., 1997). Research in Ontario showed that corn grain yield re- Soybean 3b 2.76 2.78 2.80 2.78 2.86 ns
sponded to direct K fertilization (Vyn and Janovicek, 2001) and 4b 2.89 2.83 2.89 2.89 2.87 ns
soybean grain yield to direct or residual K fertilization (Yin and 6b 2.86 2.91 3.26 3.33 3.37 76
Vyn, 2002a, 2002b) when STK levels were <135 mg K kg-1. 7b 4.40 4.33 4.33 4.36 4.21 ns
At four locations, K increased grain yield in both years 9b 4.12 4.09 4.05 4.17 4.15 ns
13b 2.43 2.47 2.38 2.39 2.41 ns
(Locations 5, 6, 14, and 18), at four locations there was response
14b 3.57 3.50 3.75 3.80 3.87 168
in the second year but not the first year (Locations 10, 11, 19, and 15b 3.93 4.12 4.11 4.14 4.09 ns
20), and at four locations there was an increase the first year but 17b 4.27 4.28 4.20 4.29 3.74 ns
not the second year (Table 3). A crop response would be expected 20b 2.89 2.77 3.09 3.13 3.24 28
in most low-testing soils and in the second year at locations with Suffixes a and b identify the first and second crop at each site,
respectively.
a first-year crop response. Such a disagreement between expecta- Max, maximizing K rate; ns, not significant K effect (P 0.10). The
tions and reality is not exceptional in field research and is explained highest or lowest rate (168 or 28 kg K ha-1, respectively) is indicated
by many site and environmental factors. High temporal variability when a linear model had the best fit or when no model fit but the
mean of the fertilized treatments differed from the control.
of crop availability of soil K, STK, and their relationship is well
known (Mallarino et al., 1991; Franzen, 2011; Mallarino et al., ror, because soil samples were analyzed in duplicates and results
2011b). These issues and perhaps high within-site STK variation verified by a third analysis.
might explain very large apparent STK decreases at Locations 4
and 11 (72 and 62 mg K kg-1) or increases at Locations 10 and 12 Grain Potassium Concentration and
(18 and 27 mg K kg-1) from the first to the second year. Possibly Removal Responses
high initial within-site STK variation was unaccounted for by the Potassium fertilization increased (P 0.10) first-year corn
composite sample taken from the entire experimental area the first grain K concentration only at Site 4a and soybean grain K con-
year. These large STK differences were not explained by testing er- centration at six sites (Sites 5a, 8a, 11a, 12a, 18a, and 19a) (Table
4). For second-year crops, grain K concentration increases due to
K applied before the first-year crop were observed at three corn a yield response, and also Sites 6b and 14b, which showed a yield
sites (Site 5b, 12b, and 18b) and four soybean sites (Sites 6b, 9b, response. Potassium fertilization increased corn grain K removal
14b, and 15b) (Table 4). The grain K concentration response (Table 5) only at three of 10 site-years (Site 5b, 6a, and 18b),
to K was infrequent for both crops, but especially for corn, and which were fewer than sites in which K increased yield. This re-
was very poorly related with the yield response. The corn grain sult can be explained by small and infrequent effects on K con-
K concentration increased at Sites 4a and 12b, which did not centration and increased variability of the combined variables.
show a yield response, and at Sites 5b and 19b, which did show However, K fertilization increased soybean K removal at 11 of
a yield response. Soybean grain K concentration increases were the 20 site-years (Sites 2a, 5a, 6b, 9b, 11a, 12a, 14b, 15b, 18a,
observed at Sites 8a, 9b, 11a, 15b, and 19a, which did not show
www.soils.org/publications/sssaj 635
Table 6. Mean corn and soybean grain K concentration and removal Table 7. Corn and soybean early DW (V5-V6) for each
across first- and second-year grain yield responsive and nonresponsive site and K treatment applied the first year of 2-yr trials.
sites for K treatments applied the first year of 2-yr trials. Treatment (kg K ha-1)
Treatment (kg K ha-1) Crop Site 0 28 56 112 168 Max
Year Response Crop 0 28 56 112 168 Max g plant-1- kg K ha1
First-year crop
Grain K concentration (g K kg-1) kg K ha-1
Corn 3a 3.07 3.55 2.9 3.51 3.39 ns
First Yes Corn 3.3 3.3 3.4 3.4 3.4 ns 4a 3.35 3.21 3.46 3.48 2.99 ns
Soybean 16.8 17.1 17.6 18.5 18.6 116 6a 2.77 2.79 2.97 3.07 3.06 132
No Corn 2.9 2.9 2.9 3.0 2.9 ns 7a 0.85 0.77 0.65 0.73 0.73 ns
Soybean 18.5 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.7 168 9a 3.48 3.28 3.72 3.65 3.58 ns
13a 9.53 10.6 9.9 9.92 9.39 ns
Second Yes Corn 2.5 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.6 ns
14a 1.53 1.71 1.62 1.66 1.7 ns
Soybean 17.8 17.9 18.4 18.4 18.6 65 15a 3.79 4.17 4.33 4.51 4.53 106
No Corn 3.3 3.4 3.3 3.4 3.5 ns 17a 3.35 3.21 3.38 3.55 3.48 ns
Soybean 19.9 20.0 20.1 20.3 20.5 168 20a 3.96 4.11 4.56 4.52 4.52 57
Grain K removal (kg K ha-1) Soybean 1a 2.83 2.81 2.84 2.63 2.71 ns
2a 2.44 2.32 2.52 2.41 2.1 ns
First Yes Corn 34.0 35.5 36.1 37.6 37.4 138
5a 2.12 2.15 2.44 2.4 2.32 ns
Soybean 51.3 53.4 56.3 61.5 60.3 110 8a 0.97 0.87 0.96 0.82 0.99 ns
No Corn 33.4 34.6 33.4 34.1 33.9 ns 10a 1.67 1.57 1.54 1.69 1.64 ns
Soybean 68.3 66.6 68.6 69.2 70.0 ns 11a 2.38 2.32 2.14 2.41 2.37 ns
Second Yes Corn 26.6 26.9 27.6 29.3 30.3 168 12a 2 2.35 2.24 2.23 2.22 28
16a 2.92 3.19 3.19 3.3 3.13 ns
Soybean 55.7 55.3 62.5 63.4 65.4 168
18a 1.49 1.51 1.54 1.71 1.59 28
No Corn 37.7 38.9 37.7 39.1 39.2 ns 19a 2.24 2.34 2.23 2.24 2.29 ns
Soybean 70.1 69.5 70.8 72.4 70.7 ns Second-year crop
M ax, maximizing K rate; ns, not significant K effect (P 0.10). The highest rate Corn 1b 5.32 5.64 5.83 5.06 5.8 ns
(168 kg K ha1) is indicated when a linear model had the best fit. 2b 6.3 6.18 6.37 6.62 6.12 ns
5b 1.54 1.8 1.8 1.98 1.82 28
19a, and 20b), which can be explained by larger and more fre- 8b 3.76 3.58 3.71 3.65 3.98 ns
quent K effects on soybean K concentrations than in corn. 10b 4.92 5.35 5.28 5.27 5.17 ns
Comparisons of K fertilization effects on corn grain yield, 11b 3.24 3.36 3.66 3.22 3.4 ns
12b 2.54 2.5 2.47 2.44 2.58 ns
K concentration, and K removal showed that responses for these 16b 6.07 6.38 5.77 5.88 6.84 ns
measurements were inconsistent across the corn sites. Results for 18b 2.3 2.55 2.6 2.45 2.83 28
soybean showed, however, that grain K concentration and K re- 19b 3.71 3.61 3.4 3.72 3.35 ns
Soybean 3b 3.72 3.7 3.72 3.57 3.64 ns
moval responses were observed at most sites with a grain yield 4b 2.68 2.85 2.87 2.42 2.25 ns
response and at some sites without a yield response. The K rate 6b 1.98 2.07 1.92 2.03 1.95 ns
that maximized corn grain yield, K concentration, and K re- 7b 2.92 2.88 2.85 3.04 2.79 ns
9b 1.76 1.62 1.83 1.78 1.61 ns
moval differed greatly across first-year yield responsive crops (91,
13b 1.32 1.4 1.43 1.42 1.44 ns
0, and 138 kg K ha-1, respectively), but differences were much 14b 2.54 2.67 2.88 2.92 2.58 ns
smaller for soybean (103, 116, and 110 kg K ha-1, respectively) 15b 2.53 2.37 2.31 2.41 2.6 ns
(Tables 3, 4, and 5). For second-year yield responsive crops, the 17b 2.67 2.5 2.56 2.79 2.8 ns
20b 2.39 2.17 2.59 2.42 2.4 ns
K rate that maximized corn grain yield, K concentration, and K Suffixes a and b identify the first and second crop at
removal were 168, 0, and 168 kg K ha-1, respectively, but for soy- each site, respectively.
bean rates were 168, 65, and 168 kg K ha-1, respectively (Tables Max, maximizing K rate; ns, not significant K effect (P
0.10). The highest or lowest rate (168 or 28 kg K ha-1,
3, 4, and 5). These mean results confirm the greater response of
respectively) is indicated when a linear model had the
soybean grain K concentration compared with corn. best fit or when no model fit but the mean of the fertilized
Table 6 shows that K fertilization did not affect corn grain K treatments differed from the control.
concentration for averages across yield responsive or nonresponsive
sites but did increase soybean grain K concentration regardless of the both crops. This result demonstrates the stronger impact of grain K
yield response. For means across soybean yield responsive sites, there concentration response to K in soybean compared with corn. On av-
was a response up to 116 and 65 kg K ha-1 for first- and second-year erage, soybean grain K removal was 23 and 33 kg K ha-1 more than
crops, respectively, and for yield nonresponsive sites removal in- for corn in the first- and second-year crops, respectively.
creased linearly for both first- and second-year crops. In contrast to
results for grain K concentration, K removal means across sites with Corn and Soybean Early Dry Weight,
or without a yield response (Table 6) showed an increase due to K Potassium Concentration, and Potassium
fertilization for both crops but only when there was a yield response. Accumulation Responses
On average across first-year yield responsive crops, K removal re- Table 7 shows early DW (V5 to V6 stage) response to K
sponded up to 138 or 110 kg K ha-1 for corn or soybean, respec- fertilization for each site-year. Results for first-year crops showed
tively, whereas for second-year crops the responses were linear for that K fertilization increased (P 0.1) corn early DW at three
www.soils.org/publications/sssaj 637
early DW response was for the yield responsive second-year Table 9. Corn and soybean early plant K accumulation (V5-V6)
for each site and K treatment applied the first year of 2-yr trials.
corn crops, and only to the lowest rate applied (28 kg K ha-1).
Treatment (kg K ha-1)
In sharp contrast, K fertilization always increased early plant
Crop Site 0 28 56 112 168 Max
and leaf K concentrations regardless of the yield response. The - mg K plant-1 kg K ha1
K concentration increase per unit of K applied was greater for First-year crop
corn than for soybean for both nonresponsive and responsive Corn 3a 90 109 93 107 113 168
sites, and for the yield responsive sites the corn K concentration 4a 95 87 96 102 90 ns
6a 34 45 51 69 80 168
responded to a much higher K rate than for soybean. The mean
7a 28 26 23 26 28 ns
early plant K accumulation reflected mainly the K concentration 9a 98 93 122 110 132 168
responses. For the first-year crops with grain yield response there 13a 207 282 275 325 310 28
was an increase up to K rates within the range of rates applied 14a 32 39 39 51 51 116
(142 and 110 kg K ha-1 for corn and soybean, respectively) and 15a 63 81 97 108 112 168
17a 50 54 64 86 99 168
linear increases for crops without a yield response. Results from
20a 71 84 116 128 155 168
second-year crops showed, however, that early corn and soybean Soybean 1a 64 71 79 75 76 ns
K accumulation responded linearly up to the highest rate applied 2a 61 66 73 76 57 128
regardless of the grain yield response. 5a 14 18 24 32 28 131
8a 23 20 25 21 26 28
Corn and Soybean Leaf Potassium Concentrations 10a 39 39 40 44 43 ns
11a 45 50 47 56 63 168
Potassium fertilization increased (P 0.10) the leaf K con- 12a 34 39 40 42 41 80
centration in all 20 first-year corn and soybean crops, in all 10 16a 67 68 74 77 67 ns
site-year corn crops, and in 9 of 10 site-year soybean crops (Table 18a 19 22 26 33 35 128
11). Fertilization did not increase soybean leaf K concentration 19a 27 29 28 34 38 168
Second-year crop
at Site 7b, which was consistent with no response for any other
Corn 1b 116 113 143 140 179 168
measurement although reasons are not clear. When leaf K con- 2b 148 139 151 216 199 130
centration data from individual first- and second-year crops were 5b 19 29 28 51 40 168
averaged for grain yield responsive or nonresponsive sites (not 8b 114 116 137 140 173 168
shown), the response trends were linear regardless of the yield 10b 152 209 232 250 249 88
11b 48 54 62 57 80 168
response and the highest K rate applied (168 kg K ha-1) maxi-
12b 46 55 53 58 67 28
mized leaf K concentration. Other research has shown that K 16b 111 152 138 144 189 168
fertilization increases corn and soybean leaf K concentration fre- 18b 35 45 51 54 81 168
quently and often regardless of a grain yield response (Randall et 19b 79 89 90 114 129 168
al., 1997; Vyn and Janovicek, 2001; Yin and Vyn, 2003). The leaf Soybean 3b 64 70 70 67 74 ns
4b 31 34 34 26 27 ns
K concentration response to K fertilization was larger and to a
6b 36 38 40 43 47 168
higher K rate than for grain yield, and there was strong evidence 7b 70 69 77 82 73 ns
for luxury accumulation of K in the leaves. 9b 54 54 56 60 58 ns
13b 23 26 27 29 29 120
Critical Tissue Potassium Concentrations 14b 39 43 49 62 57 112
15b 39 45 41 47 56 168
Figure 1 shows that the relative grain yield response of corn
17b 38 37 39 49 52 168
increased curvilinearly as the K concentration of plants at the V5- 20b 38 38 49 48 61 168
V6 stage and leaves at the R1 stage increased. The graphs for both Suffixes a and b identify the first and second crop at each site,
tissues show that data for sites with no yield response were dis- respectively.
Max, maximizing K rate. ns, not significant K effect (P 0.10). The
tinctly grouped at high relative yield values, which was expected,
highest or lowest rate (168 or 28 kg K ha-1, respectively) is indicated
but corresponded to a range of tissue K concentrations almost when a linear model had the best fit or when no model fit but the
as wide as for the yield responsive sites. The LP and QP models mean of the fertilized treatments differed from the control.
had approximately similar R2 values (0.47 and 0.49, respectively)
but identified different critical concentrations. This result (dif- ciency range of 25 to 40 g K kg-1 suggested by Jones et al. (1990).
ferent critical concentrations for models with similar R2) has Mallarino and Higashi (2009) found no correlation between the
been observed before for nutrient application rates (Cerrato and K concentration of young corn plants and grain yield in an Iowa
Blackmer, 1990), soil tests (Mallarino and Blackmer, 1992), and study with infrequent yield response to K. The critical concentra-
tissues tests (Mallarino, 1996). The critical K concentrations de- tions for corn ear leaves compare to a sufficiency range of 13 to
termined by LP and QP models were 20.2 and 25.1 g K kg-1 for 30 g K kg-1 suggested by Jones et al. (1990) and to 12.3 g K kg -1
plants and 10.2 and 11.0 g K kg-1 for leaves, respectively. The crit- reported by Mallarino and Higashi (2009). Therefore, critical K
ical concentration for young corn plants compare to an average concentrations for corn young plants and leaves determined in
of 39.8 g K kg-1 reported by Walker and Peck (1975) and a suffi- this study are lower or in the low range compared with those sug-
www.soils.org/publications/sssaj 639
Table 11. Leaf corn (R1) and soybean (R2) K concentration for
each site and K treatment applied the first year of 2-yr trials.
Treatment (kg K ha-1)
Crop Site 0 28 56 112 168 Max
g K kg-1- kg K ha1
First-year crop
Corn 3a 15.8 17.2 18.7 18.7 19.7 100
4a 10.3 10.1 10.5 12.3 12.6 168
6a 6.0 6.7 8.1 9.3 11.3 168
7a 14.1 13.6 17.0 16.4 15.9 28
9a 14.0 16.1 16.2 17.7 18.6 168
13a 17.0 19.2 19.0 20.9 21.7 168
14a 9.7 10.9 11.0 13.8 16.5 168
15a 9.8 12.1 13.0 14.3 14.7 168
17a 8.1 10.5 12.4 13.7 16.1 168
20a 11.1 13.6 16.6 17.0 19.2 168
Soybean 1a 20.3 21.2 19.3 23.7 23.9 28
2a 20.4 21.9 24.3 26.6 28.9 168
5a 11.0 12.5 13.3 20.5 19.5 168
8a 23.8 23.4 27.5 27.5 28.2 168
10a 20.3 24.9 22.6 24.1 26.0 168
11a 18.3 18.9 20.0 20.4 28.1 168
12a 23.2 23.5 25.2 25.5 26.2 81
16a 19.9 23.0 21.9 24.8 26.2 168
18a 14.5 16.3 18.8 18.9 22.4 168
19a 16.4 21.4 20.9 22.5 23.6 168
Second-year crop
Corn 1b 10.6 10.6 12.2 12.9 13.8 168
2b 10.0 10.0 11.3 12.3 12.8 168
5b 5.7 6.7 6.2 11.1 10.1 168
8b 10.6 10.5 12.8 13.8 15.0 168
10b 12.4 15.9 17.4 18.4 17.7 78
11b 10.4 10.4 10.3 11.8 13.6 168
12b na na na na na na
16b 12.1 13.8 14.7 15.4 17.7 168
18b 7.6 8.7 9.9 11.6 13.1 168
Fig. 1. Relationship between relative corn grain yield and the K
19b 11.3 13.2 13.8 14.9 16.3 168 concentration of young plants (V5 to V6 stage) and ear leaves
Soybean 3b 26.6 26.1 27.1 28.8 31.0 168 at the R1 stage. Black and white symbols indicate data for yield
4b 16.0 17.6 19.7 21.0 24.5 168 responsive and nonresponsive sites, respectively. LP, linear plateau;
6b 14.3 16.2 16.5 17.1 20.4 168 QP, quadratic plateau.
7b 27.1 27.4 29.3 28.8 27.4 ns ranges defined by LP and QP models were 20.2 and 25.1 g K kg-1
9b 21.1 20.7 21.7 25.9 26.2 168 for plants and 10.2 and 11.0 g K kg -1 for leaves, respectively. The
13b 19.6 18.7 18.9 21.4 20.8 28
K concentrations of soybean plants at the V5-V6 growth stage
14b 12.0 12.3 12.9 15.1 15.7 168
and leaves at the R2 stage also were significantly related to the
15b 14.8 15.9 15.5 17.9 18.8 168
relative yield response to K, but the strength of the relationship
17b 14.5 16.0 18.4 20.5 25.2 168
20b 15.9 16.5 19.3 18.9 21.0 168
was poorer then for corn. No reliable critical K concentration
Suffixes a and b identify the first and second crop at each site, could be determined for the young plants because the relation-
respectively. ship with yield response was very poor. The critical K concentra-
Max, maximizing K rate; ns, not significant K effect (P 0.10). The highest tion range for leaves defined by LP and QP models was 17.6 and
or lowest rate (168 or 28 kg K ha-1) is indicated when a linear model had
the best fit or when no model fit but the mean of the fertilized treatments
20.0 g K kg-1.
differed from the control. na, leaf samples were lost. Overall, the results showed large differences in the relative
magnitude of the response to K fertilization by different corn and
three measurements for corn and soybean at sites with no grain soybean plant parts. The study, which was based on many sites,
yield response to K fertilization. years, and growing conditions, identified four groups of plant
The K concentrations of corn plants at the V5-V6 growth parts each with contrastingly different responses to K fertiliza-
stage and leaves at the R1 stage were significantly related to the tion. For both crops, the K concentration and accumulation in
relative yield response to K fertilization. Critical concentration vegetative tissues showed the highest magnitude and frequency
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