Plant Soil Environ., 2018, 64(9):455-462 | DOI: 10.17221/372/2018-PSE

Potential of Mehlich 3 method for extracting plant available sulfur in the Czech agricultural soilsOriginal Paper

Martin KULHÁNEK*, Jindřich ČERNÝ, Jiří BALÍK, Ondřej SEDLÁŘ, Pavel SURAN
Department of Agro-Environmental Chemistry and Plant Nutrition, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic

Mehlich 3 is an extractant used worldwide for extracting bioavailable nutrients in soils; however, its extraction abilities for sulfur (S) are still not well described. The aim of this preliminary study was to compare the results of Mehlich 3 determined soil S fraction (SM3) with the results of sulfur fractionation, mainly focusing on bioavailable S (Sav - sum of water-extractable (Sw) and adsorbed (Sads) sulfur). Air dried soil samples from commonly used agricultural soils were chosen for the analyses. The following S fractions were determined: (i) Sw; (ii) Sads; (iii) Sav; (iv) 1 mol/L HCl extractable (SHCl); (v) estersulfate (Ses); (vi) organic (Sorg) and (vii) total (Stot). The median value of SM3 (18.3 mg/kg) was similar to Sav (17.9 mg/kg). From the correlation and regression analysis it is clear that SM3 results are in close relationship with Sav form. On the other hand, the relationships between SM3 and organic S (including SHCl) were very weak. Based on the obtained results it can be concluded that Mehlich 3 method has a good potential to determine bioavailable sulfur in commonly used agricultural soils. However, especially the plant response should be further studied to confirm this theory.

Keywords: sulfur bioavailability; macronutrient; soil extractant; soil testing; soil tests comparison

Published: September 30, 2018  Show citation

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KULHÁNEK M, ČERNÝ J, BALÍK J, SEDLÁŘ O, SURAN P. Potential of Mehlich 3 method for extracting plant available sulfur in the Czech agricultural soils. Plant Soil Environ. 2018;64(9):455-462. doi: 10.17221/372/2018-PSE.
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