Effects of Biostimulants and Fertilization on Nutrient Uptake by Grass and Composition of Soil Pore Water Versus 0.01 M CaCl₂ Soil Extracts

Humic substances are increasingly used as biostimulants in agriculture because of their supposed effects on nutrient uptake and crop yield. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of fulvic acid (FA) and humic acid (HA) addition with and without fertilization (N, P, K, S, and Ca) on (i) grass yield (Poa trivialis) and nutrient uptake and (ii) composition of soil porewater and 0.01 M CaCl2 soil extracts. Therefore, a pot experiment was performed using a loamy soil and a non-calcareous sandy soil. Fertilization increased N and P uptake and grass yield but there was no effect of FA or HA application (200 mg C kg−1 soil) regardless of whether N or P was the growth limiting nutrient. Nutrient availability was assessed in soil pore water samples extracted by centrifugating moist soil and by 0.01 M CaCl2 extracts of oven-dried soil. HA and FA had no effect on the availability of NO3 or ortho-P, neither in soil porewater nor in 0.01 M CaCl2 soil extracts. Fertilization led to an increase in 0.01 M CaCl2-extractable ortho-P but, remarkably, to a decrease in ortho-P and Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) concentrations in soil pore water samples. This discrepancy was explained by the higher ionic strength of pore water in the fertilized soils, which caused the pH to drop by 0.2 to 0.4 units and thereby stimulated adsorption of ortho-P and DOC to reactive soil minerals. Such salt-induced effects do not occur in 0.01 M CaCl2 soil extracts where the ionic strength is nearly constant.