Sulphur as a nutrient for Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) seedlings and radish (Raphanus sativus) grown on a sandy podzol in England

Experiments with Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) seedlings grown on an acid sandy podzol at Wareham, Dorset, England showed that sulphur fertilizers improved the colour but not the height of the crop and increased sulphur concentrations in the needles above those considered by Ingestad (1962) to indicate sulphur deficiency for Norway spruce (Picea abies). Spruce seedlings grown on other soils (Oxford and Woburn) contained more sulphur than those grown at Wareham. Sulphur concentrations in transplants of both species were generally less when S-free basal fertilizers were used.

Radish (Raphanus sativus) experiments confirmed that Wareham soil was low in available sulphur. Increased yields were obtained from elemental sulphur treatments during the springs of 1968 and 1969, but not the summer months, when more sulphur may have been mineralized in the warmer soil. Wareham is in an area with less sulphur in the rain and atmosphere than most other parts of England.

RESP-6196