Chemical and biological behaviour of several Ni-forms was studied on different soil types with spinach as a test plant. For the positively charged forms, Ni-ions and Ni-TETREN-ions, extractability increased with decreasing pH and CEC values of the soil. On the other hand, Ni added as EDTA-complex resulted in an extremely high Ni mobility, enhancing extractable Ni in soils having higher pH and CEC values. Speciation of Ni in the saturation extracts of the soils revealed that the transformation of both added positive forms was dependent on the soil characteristics, while Ni added as EDTA-complex mainly remained in the negative form. This altered mobility, accompanied by variable modification of the original chemical form in the soil solution, affected plant uptake and appearance of phytotoxic effects. Speciation in the plant extracts indicated that regardless of the chemical form added to the soil, Ni was only found in neutral and negative complexes. Finally, using ion-pair reversed phase HPLC, Ni-EDTA-ions were quantified in both the soil solution and the plant extract.