Lighting a flare for magnesium
Recent studies undertaken at Cambridge University Farm, UK, reveal the importance of potassium and nitrogen on magnesium uptake. Described by Philip Draycott and Marc Allison in The Fertiliser Society Proceedings No. 412, "Magnesium Fertilisers in Soil and Plants: Comparisons and Usage", the work highlights the importance of magnesium. This element is now recognized as a major plant nutrient, frequently deficient in light textured soils when they are intensively cropped.
Most of the work has been done on sugar beet but it seems likely that potatoes, for example, benefit from similar recommendations, both on the form in which magnesium is applied and application rates. Work is continuing in order to investigate whether current recommendations need to be more cultivar-specific so that yield potential is not lost in some varieties.
