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soils and nutRient management foR tRopical fRuit tRees

Table 2. Soil pH and percentage of calcium carbonate in calcareous soils from South Florida.

pH (H O)
Soil CaCO (%) pH (H O) Soil CaCO (%) 2
3 2 3
1 26 7.9 13 93 8.2
2 65 8.0 14 78 7.9
3 6 7.8 15 45 7.8
4 94 8.1 16 32 7.8
5 93 8.2 17 5 7.5
6 62 7.8 18 72 7.8
7 62 8.0 19 49 7.8
8 58 8.0 20 3 7.3
9 47 7.8 21 74 7.7
10 24 7.8 22 81 7.7
11 42 8.0 23 90 7.7
12 41 7.9 24 84 7.6

Acidification of calcareous soils: Soil acidulents such as elemental sulfur (S), sulfuric acid,

triosulfate salts, etcétera. have been successfully used to acidify calcareous soils with less than

3% CaCO . Chemical reactions are showed as equations below. However, it does not work
3
for soil with very high CaCO such as soils in South Florida. To date no research data has been
3
generated to establish a beneficial effect of applications of any acidic products on calcareous

soils in Florida.

Elemental sulfur (S)

25 + 30 bacteria H SO
2 + 2H O 2 4
2
sulfur + oxygen + water sulfuric acid

Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas