The Ability of a Novel Fertilizer to Supply Manganese and Boron to Soybeans.

Manganese and Boron are two essential micronutrients for plant growth. In acid, sandy soils and in soils with high pH levels, these two elements can be deficient for plant growth. Typically, farmers counteract these deficiencies via foliar fertilization. However, our experiment tests the ability of a novel coated fertilizer to correct these deficiency symptoms by applying the micronutrients directly into the soil. It was hypothesized that plants treated with the novel fertilizer will show better growth than those treated with traditional fertilizer and the control (unfertilized) plants. Soybeans were grown in the greenhouse with the three treatments being control, uncoated KCl (traditional), and Mn and B coated KCl (novel), with soil samples being collected at five separate time intervals (2, 7, 14, 30, and 60 days after germination). Soil for each sampling period and plant tissue from the 30-and 60-day time periods were analyzed for Mn and B. All three soil analysis methods showed a significantly higher amount of available Mn in the novel fertilizer treatments compared to the control and the traditional treatments for both soil types. Soil B concentrations varied between extraction method and soil type, probably due to the low application rate. Plant tissue analysis showed that there was a significantly greater amount of Mn in aboveground tissue of plants treated with the novel fertilizer. Results from a 2016 field trial with soybeans will also be discussed.