Factors Affecting Chloride Uptake and Implications of the Chloride-Nitrate Antagonism in

Sugarbeet Mineral Nutrition1

D. \ IV. JAMES, D. C. KlDMAN, \V. H . "VEAVER AN D R . L. R EEDER2

R eceived fo r Im b/ica/ ion Ma y 29. 1969

Chloride has been identified as an essential plant nutrient element for sugarbeets and other plan ts (7 ,11 ).3 Ulr ich and Ohki (11) reported that CI concentrations in sugarbeet petioles of 0.2 m illiequ ivalen ts per gram (meq/g) were associated with healthy plants but that Cl concentrations approximating 0.005 meq/ g ,vere indicat ive of ex treme Cl deficiency and growth retardation .

"Vhen C I is readily avail able the amou nts absorbed by plan ts greatly exceed th e growth-limit ing leve ls. Kretchmer et al. (9) state that increasing levels o f CI in the substrate resu lted in linear increases in C I content of 10 d ifferen t plant species. T his effect was independent of type of substrate or plant species. T hey re­ported dry-weight Cl concentra t ions up to about l. 2 m eq/ g of plant tissue.

An other aspect of Cl nutr it ion is that inc reasing levels of C I in plants are associated wi th decreasing levels of NO,,-N and vice versa (1,2,6,9, 10,12,13). T hus, there is an antagonism or negat ive interaction between these two ions in nu tr ient absorption.

T hese ki nds of observat ions prompted an inves tigation in to the role of C I in central Washington-grown sugarbeets. Field experiments have been under way for several years which were not in itially designed with the study of C 1 in mind. C 1 analyses proved to be very useful, however, in explaining some apparentl y anomalous results. In an earlier report (5) , for example, it was shown that increas ing rat~s of K fertilizer (as KC I) resu lted in increasing levels of sucrose in the beet roots . Also, -NO:1 in the petiol es decreased wi th the K rates. T he analytical resu lts for petiole C l (not reported earlier) are presented here in F igure l. T he results for K uptake are repeated for comparison. F igure I indicates that C 1 concentration increased from below 0.2 m eq/ g to more than 1.2 meq/ g. T here is no indication in these results of an upper limi t of C1 absorption. It is apparen t also that K and C l uptake are in dependent of each other.

1 Scientific paper N o. 3284. Coll ege of Agr iculture, " 'ashi ngto n State Uni versit y, Pull · man , Project No . 1607. I-'ortions of thi s paper were g i\'en at th e Fifteenth Genera l ~ lecti ng

of th e American Societ), of Sugar Beet T ech no logi sts. Phoenix, Februa ry 1968. 2 Associa te So il Scienti st, \Vashi ng ton Stelle U ni \"ers ity, Irriga ted Agriculture Research

and Ex tension Center; R esearch Agronomist, U tah · Id aho Suga r Compan y, T oppen ish , Wash · ington; and Senior Ex perimen t Aides, W.S.U ., Prosser , respect i\·ely .

3 Numbers in parentheses refer to li teratu re cited.

JOURNAL OF THE A. S. S. B. T.

1.4

1.2

1.0

.8

'" ""­E.• 6

CI

o+-----~------~------------~ o 100 200 400

K POUNDS / AC RE

Figure I.-Effect of applied K (as KCI) on K and CI content of sugar­beet petioles. Each point is the mean of 12 replications. For further de­tails see (5).

The basic objective of a series of experiments conducted in 1967 and 1968 was to evaluate sugarbeet responses to N, P and K fertilizers under central 'Washington conditions. A prelimrnary report on the N aspects of this research has been made (4). The purpose of this report is to present the results of CI analyses from these experiments. Factors affecting Cl availability and the implications of the CI-N03 interaction are discussed.

Procedure

Sugarbeets 'were studied at 40 different locations in 2 years. Data obtained included soil and petiole analyses and yield re­sults. Experiments at 26 locations 'were carried to completion. Some information was recovered from several locations which were not carried to completion. Each experimental site consisted of approximately 1 acre in a larger commercial field of sugar­beets. Fields were selected which had not received any fertilizer

VOL. IS, No.8, JANUARY 1970 649

since the beginning of the previous growing season. Before crop establishment, the soil was sampled according to a standard pro­cedure which takes into account the wide horizontal and vertical variations in soluble soil constituents which commonly occur in irrigated soils (3). Each experimental area was separated into 0.034 acre size plots and fertilizer treatments were applied according to the schedule given in Table l. Phosphate fertilizer was used where necessary so that P was not a limiting factor in the growth of beets. In most instances the fertilizer was ap­plied broadcast-plowdown. In a few cases the fertilizer was applied as sidedress after thinning. The fertilizer treatments were organized in a randomized complete block design in four replications. Planting and all cultural practices were done by the gTower-cooperator.

Table I.-Treatment combinatio"" of nitrogen , and potassium fertilizer .

Treatlncnt Elenlcnt rate-pounds per acre1

No. N K2

1 0 0 2 100 0 3 200 0 J 200 200

1 Th e element forms were: N, ammonium nitrate , and K, Illuriate of potash. 2 When the preliminary so il test indi ca ted a probable K defi Ciency , treatments 1, 2 and

3 received K, and it was then o mitted in trea tment 4. T hus, treatment 4 was either a positive or negative check treatment, depending on the loca tion.

The sampling and NOs analytical procedures for petioles have been described (5).

Cl was measured in distilled water extracts of soil and plant samples by an adaptation of the method given by Johnson and Ulrich (8). Petiole NOs and Cl are reported in terms of meq/g dry weight. Soil N 0 3 and Clare reported in terms of soil test indexes. Each index is th e sum of the element ppm in all one­foot increments of soil through the zone sampled. .

Results and Discussion Petiole Cl vnsus Soil T est Cl

Petiole Cl concentrations from the zero-K treatment at the respective experiments are presented in Figure 2 as a function of soil test Cl. The results follow the same pattern for both years. In general, as soil test Cl goes up the CI content of petiole goes up. The (0) data points are from an area that is irrigated by return-flow water. This 'water contains >18 ppm of Cl. Seasonal fluctuations in this Cl load are quite small. All other data points are [Tom experiments that are irrigated with water directly from the Yakima and Columbia rivers. These waters have Cl concentrations of 2,0 and 0.6 ppm, respectively.

650 JOUR NAL OF THE A. S. S. B. T.

1967 19S9

1.4 o 0

o1.2

o o

1.0

o +-~--~--~~---L__~~ __~__~~__~ o 20 4 0 60 80 20 40 60 80 loa 120

SOIL TE ST Cl INDEX

FigUl-e 2.~The relationship be tween Cl concentration of sugarbeet pe­tioles and the soil test CI index is 2 years. Ea<:h point is the mea n of fou l' replica tions of treatment No. 1 from di££excnt exp er iments. See text for explanation o f diHexent symbols.

Some of the fields receivin g low-C l water have a history at KC l fertilization . A few fields have undergone some degree of salini­zation.

T he (x) data points are from fields tha t had a high amount of residual fertilizer N. Estimations from soil analyses indica te that the 1967 high-N field contained 310 pou nds of N03-N per acre in the rooting zone, and the 1968 high-N field con ta ined 460 po unds per acre. (These conversions are based on an average soil bulk densi ty value of 1.45.) T he results from these two sites indica te the depression of C 1 up take by N 0 3 ,

It is apparent from Figure 2 that water-soluble Cl in the soil is a good indicator of C l availabil i ty. It is apparent also that C l avail ability at a given site can be predicted only after considering irrigation water input and the backgTound of resi­dual N03 • T h e latter point will become more evident with subsequent discussions.

A very pertin ent question arises from Figures 1 and 2. T his has to do wi th the likeli hood of having C l -deficient sugarbeets where both soil and water are very low in C 1 content. T his question is being pursued .

T he C I-N03 Negative In teraction

It has been shown that the soil test N index is a fair indicator of N availab ility for sugarbeets in centra l Washington (4). In light of this and the foregoing data on C l uptake , the background on ·which the fe r tilizer treatments were superimposed should be considered in interpre ting the treatment effects. Sugarbeet re­

651 VOL. 15, No.8, JANU ARY 1970

sponses to the fe rtilizer trea tments , in terms of petiole CI and N 0 3 concentrations , are given in Figures :3, 4 and 5 for seven selec ted sites. T he soil tes t indexes for these sites are given in T able 2. T he selections were made to show the different ways in which the C I-N03 uptake interac t ion manifested itsel f.

Table 2.-Soil lest i ndexes for NO,-N and C ll (backgrou nd d a la [or f ig ures 3, 4 a nd S).

Soil tes t Fig ure

index 3a 3b 4a 4b 4c 5a. 5b

N 36 69 8 26 1:3 13 78 Cl 62 17 6 29 2 50 80

1 Soil les t index is the SlIlU of the cl emenl ppm in all oue-fool increment s sa mpled. Sampling d ep Lhs va ried f ro l11 l .:~ to 72 jnch es, d epending" on the dep lh o[ the rooting zone. The limiting soil la yer was ca liche.

F igure 3 shows two sets of results where 200 pounds of K per acre were applied wi th treatments 1,2 and 3 (Table 1). T he K ra te was omitted with treatment 4. In Figure 3, as the N rate goes up t he petiole NO" goes up and petiole C I goes down. W ith treatment 4, C 1 content d rops and N03 increases. Note that without added KC I , there is more petiole C 1 than NOs in Figure 3a and less C I than NOs in F igure 3b. T his shift is in agreement with the soil test indexes, Table 2.

1.6

1.4

1.2

1.0

. 8 co ':­

.6

• NO,

.4 • CI

. 2

0 0 100 200 0 10 0 20 0

N POU NDS / ACRE

F igure 3.-T he effect of NH, N03 and RCI fertilizer on N03 and Cl concentrations of sugarbeet petioles. Each point is the mea n of four re­plications. T he vertical l ine segment is LSD (.05). Treatments I , 2 and 3 included RCI at 200 pounds per acre of K. The effects of omitting KCI at treatment 4 are indica ted by the arrows. Petioles were sampled (a) 6/22/ 67 and (b) 6/ 28/ 67.

652 OF THE A. S. S. B. T .

• NO$

• CI

10Q 200 0

4.-Effecl of NIl !NO, and KCl fertilizer 011 "10" and C1 concentrations in sugarbeet petioles. KCI [t:l'tilizt;r was introduced with treatment 1. Petioles were sampLd (a) (b) and lc)

In 1 results are shown for three sites where Ke] ,vas introduced only with treatment 4. At each site as the ~ fertilizer

NO, increased and with treatment 4 C 1 decreased

4a and h and increased soil C 1 at the site

KC I was added, however. there was a very C l. the variation ill soil test C I is rel1ected ill suIts 4 by the relauve position of the three CI curves.

At the site by ::\'0, response to rates. In 311

The effects of residual notahle in these tiro sets

not affected fertilizer infrequently. follo"ved thein :')iJ

5a and b with

;la tbere was a there

N

K C 1 in The resp()nse to

more common Jn buth decreased and ill-

.

C I . Only one

has been noted. ;

kind of contrast in results may be seen corn par­'1c and Sa. In uoth of t.hese cases soil test ~ was

identical alld low. The tim in different years. but the shift in of C 1 is evidence of the diffel en\ between C 1 had ven low soil CI d H'ith low water C1 ; aile!

soil C1 result of \later-borne

653 VOL. 15, "'0. 8, jA;\;UARY 197()

1.6

1.4

1.2

1.0

":-'" . 8

E .6

.4 • NO;,

• CI .2

O+-______ ____~___J_______i______~L­

o 100 200 0 100 200

N POUNDS / ACRE

Figure 5.-Effects of NH, Nn, and RCI fertilizer on NO" and CI concentrations of sugarbeet petioles. RCI was introduced only with treat· ment 5. Petioles were sampled (a) 6/ 22/ 67 and (b) 6/ 20/ 67.

The CI-NOJ negative interaction in plant nutrition has been investigated under solution or sand culture conditions (1,2,9, 10,12,1 3). From the resLllt~ presented here it appears that the antagonism clearly manifes ts itself under field conditions too. It is apparent also that this phenomenon has important impli­cations in assessing either soil test N as an index of N availability or petiole N03 as an indicator of the l\i nutritional status of the plant. From all the resul ts taken from these experiments, for example, as a first appr oximation , optimum N fertilizer rates will be SO pounds per ane higher in the areas irrigated with 18 ppm Cl waters compared to the areas receiving Im'l-CI ,vaters.

Root Yield and Sucrose Rf'sjJOnses

It is not the main purpose ot this report to elaborate on the overall crop performance in this series of experiments. It is well to point out in passing, however, that there was one site where there vvas a possibility of a direct response to K per se as judged by petiole K and Na levels and root yields. In addition there were six sites that had a root yield response to 100 pounds of N per acre. (Among the sites represented by the figures there ' were significant responses to N in 4(1, 4c and Sa.) In all cases there was a reduction in sucrose percent with added N fertilizer. The negative response of sucrose percent to increased N availability was quite sensitive.

654 ]OURi'\AL OF THE A. S. S. B. T.

Of direct concern here is the effect of the CI-N03 inter­action on crop performance. In this respect, there was no de­tectable effect on root growth. There was, however, some effect on sucrose. It was pointed out previously (5) that positive sucrose responses to KCl fertilization have been noted quite frequently in this area. T he increases ranged up to about 0.8%, generally averaging around 0.4 % . Similar kinds of responses were observed in the 1967-68 experiments. These are summarized in Table 3. The criteria for judging the KCl effect was a difference of 0.2% sucrose between treatments ? and 5 at each site. (The relative experimental error for sucrose pel~cent is typica lly lower than for other plant nutrition and grow th parameters.' Differences of 0.2% sucrose are usually significant at the 1% level.) On this basis 54% of all experimenrs had a significant increase in sucrose, with 38% showing no effect. Eight percent showed a signficantly lower level of sucrose.

Table 3.-Changcs in sucrose percent associated with additions of KCI fert ilizer: A frequency distribulion.

No. of Percent in T t pe of response sites category

N ull 10 38 0.2% or greater increase 14 .54 0.2% decrease 2 8

Total 26 100

The nature of the sucrose response to KCl ferti lizer was not readi ly predicted by soil test or by tissue analyses. Never­theless, when there was a positive sucrose response to KCl fer­tilization, the most logical explanation is that the sugarbeet is responding to reduced 1 :0:3 uptake. In other words, the change in sucrose is an indirect response to the C I -containing ferti lizer. Many oJ the other factors that aHect sucrose accllmulat io!1 can be related to N. For exam ple, sugarbeets under furrow irri ga­tion typically s11ml' a reduction in sucrose after a rainstorm which was preceded by a prolonged period of no precipitation. In this instance, N O B-N has heen washed from its position of isolation in the dry surface soil into the active root zone. On the other hand, the crop responds with increased content of sucrose to excessive irrigation as a result of N leaching. T hus, severa l unrelated variahles could cancel the apparent effect of KCl on sucrose accumulation.

The foregoing interpreta tion of the plant Cl-sucrose rela­tionships assumes that there are no direct connections between K uptake and sllcrose acc umulation beyond the point where K content is non-limiting to normal metabolism. In the examples

VOL, "n. fI, .1",,;.\RY jCJ70

the mental does not allOl" for a clear-cut separation of the enett;; of i( and (: I. But increases in sucrose between treatmclll<; ~j and 4 versus :<" ," occurred when in the from ,:l~) and 2.14 These numbers are well K levels K

and Condusions

involving:\ and K fertilizers wefe conducted 111 commercial fieids in I%7 and 19G8. These

with (:1 nutrition in ion waters, lllaterials ,vere

anomalous re-

on C I indicate that C I ahsorbed hy of Cl is ftmction of the amount water-soluble C I in the was also related to the load of (: I in The clata indicate that certain areas of central C 1 concentratiollS in both and waLer. raises a CjUt'stiull on the of C I-deiicien t m the area.

Results from ith and KCl confirm the we lI-cio(ul1len ted of NO, alld (;l.

The itself call lw related and C I in the soiL

soih ;mel

and the 1\

Literature Cited

(I) BCCWH:R, A. 1952. min.:ral metabolism Cl fertilization in t 11e ca,e of llutrition. Zcitschr. I'j la lllcncrll:lhr.,

: 1 1-111. Hioi. al)str. I 1.7H.

HAR\\ARD, :-f. E., \\', R. PII ..\:-.itl and D. D. :'I]ASO:'\.

195(;. The rebl and ,lllfale ions to form of ni· trogen ill lhe lwtriLion of Irisil potat()es. i'roc. Soil Sci. Soc. Am.

231

D. ,r., C. E. '\ElSO'; ~ll1d .\. R. H·iLVORSO:,\. ll)fi7. Soil (or residual nitrates as a for fcrtilizalioll 0/ slI!{ar­beer,. WasIL 51;[. ( 480.

R. REEDER. 19GB. the nilrogen lCllili/C'r 01 sngar Ilcets gTowa

in central \\'asll. eire.

D. \V" D. C. KIDI!" .. \\'. If. \'\'EAYER ;wd ]%(0)1).

l'ota:ssium feniIiztaion or s!!gilr beels ill central J..\m. Soc. Beet Techno!' II. G82-(j~H.

656 JOUR NAL OF THE A. S. S. B. T.

(6) JAMES, D. W., W. H . 'WEAVER and R. L. REEDER. 1969. Chloride up­take by potatoes and the effects oE potassium chloride, nitrogen and phosphorus fert ili zat ion. Soil Sci. 109: L18-52.

(7) JOl-INSON, C. iVI., P. R. STOUT, T. C. BROYER and A. B. CARLTON. 1957. Comparative chlorine requirements of d iHerent pla nt species. Plant and Soil 8: 337-353.

(8) JOl-INSON, C. iVI . and A. ULRICH. 1959. Analytical methods for use in plant analysis. U niv. Calif. Agr. Exp. Sta. Bu!. 766.

(9) KRETSCHMER, A. E., S . .J. TOTII and F. E. BEAR. 1953. Effect of chloride versus sulfate iOlls on nutrient-ion absorption by plants. Soil Sci. 76: 193-199.

(10) MEYER, R. E., G . F. '''ARREN and R. LANGSTON. 1957. Effect of various anions on the growth and nutrient uptake of bean and tomaLO. Proe. Am. Soe. Hort. Sci. 70: 334-340.

(II) ULRICH, A., and I .OHKI. 1956. Chlorine, bromine and sodium as nu­trients for sugar beet plants. Plant Phys. 3 1: 171-18l.

(12) VLADIMIROV, A. V. 1934. T he e[(ect o[ amm onia and nitrates on the yield of sugar beets in relation to anio n components and reaction of the medium. Len in Acad. Agrie. Sci. Gedroiz Inst. Fertilizers Agro-Soi l Sci. 3: 104. Chem. Abstr. 29: 2282.

(I3) WIT, C. T. DE, W. DI]KSI-IOORN and .J. C. NOGGLE. 1963. Ionic balance and growth of plants. Vers!' Landbouwk. Onderz. NR. 69.15. W a­geningen. 68 pp.