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Chemistry / How does sodium nitrate make soil alkaline?
« on: 03/07/2011 10:17:36 »
From Bored chemist
Yes that is fair enough comment ! The only small problem that I see with it is that I am pretty sure plants cannot directly use nitrate -- they want their nitrogen in -3 oxidation state, like ammonia or cyanide or urea.
Quote
Damocles,
plants grow slowly.
They take up nitrogen slowly.
The change in pH is slow.
In essence, if you take the nitrogen away (to plants or bacteria) the sodium is still left behind. Unless there's some source of a counter ion for the sodium, it will be present as the hydroxide. That's going to make things alkaline
Yes that is fair enough comment ! The only small problem that I see with it is that I am pretty sure plants cannot directly use nitrate -- they want their nitrogen in -3 oxidation state, like ammonia or cyanide or urea.