February 1993
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3 Reads
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9 Citations
An experiment was conducted to assess the suitability of three extractants, water (H2O), 0.005M DTPA, and 0.4M nitric acid (HNO3) for determining plant available copper (Cu) in peat substrates. Cucumber was used as a test crop. Four levels of Cu were compared in two peat substrates, each at two pH levels. There was good correlation between Cu extractable in H2O, DTPA, and HN03 and the Cu content of cucumber leaves, the correlations being 0.88, 0.87, and 0.89, respectively. These correlation coefficients did not differ significantly. It was concluded that all three extractants are suitable for estimating Cu availability in peat substrates.