Reaction zone root development and P absorption efficiency of roots of flax (Linum usitatissimum L. ‘Redwood’), wheat (Trlticum vulgate L. ‘Manitou’), rape (Brassica napus L. ‘Tanka’), and buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench) have been contrasted in order to explain the large variability among them in utilizing P from pellets of KH2PO2 and K2HPO4 in a pot experiment. A large proportion of plant P was extracted from the pelleted applications by rape (40.8 to 57.6%) and buckwheat (33.1 to 55.5%). It is suggested that applied P utilization by rape was enhanced by e~tensive proliferation of its root system detected around points of application of fertilizer pellets. It is suggested for buckwheat, on the other hand, that its utilization of applied P was aided by the high efficiency of its root in absorbing P from high concentrations as indicated in absorption studies using excised roots. Relative to rape or buckwheat a much smaller proportion of plant P was extracted by flax (3.8 to 8.1%) and wheat (12.5 to 19.7%) from P applications. The poorer utilization of applied P by these two crops is considered due to the inability of their root systems to either proliferate extensively or to absorb P efficiently from high P concentrations.
It is reasoned that the greater P availability from a 40‐mg P application as KH2PO4 than from a 20‐mg P application as K2HPO4 was due to the higher water‐soluble P level in the reaction zone of the former application, with the two applications spread through the same soil volume. A given P application as K2HPO4 spread through a larger volume of calcareous soil than the same rate of P as KH2PO4. The water‐soluble P level, however, was lower in reaction zones of the former carrier. Thus, the effect of reaction zone size and of its watersoluble P level on the availability of P from KH2PO4, and K2HPO4 pellets offset one another, resulting in a similar availability of the two carriers to the four crops tested.