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Phosphate rock dissolution and transformation in the rhizosphere of tea (Camellia sinensis L.) compared with other plant species

Tea (Camellia sinensis L.) is generally grown in highly weathered acidic Ultisols of the humid tropics. The low pH, large P fixing capacity and moisture content of these soils favour the dissolution of phosphate rock. Plant species differ widely in their ability to take up P from phosphate rock, and we have compared phosphate mobilization in the rhizosphere of tea with that under calliandra (Calliandra calothyrsus L.), Guinea grass (Panicum maximum L.) and bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) by studying the changes in the concentration of P fractions at known distances from the root surface in an acidic (pH in water 4.5) Ultisol from Sri Lanka treated with a phosphate rock. Plants were grown in the top compartment of a two‐compartment device, comprising two PVC cylinders physically separated by a 24‐μm pore‐diameter polyester mesh. A planar mat of roots was formed on the mesh in the top compartment, and the soil on the other side of the mesh in the lower compartment was cut into thin slices parallel to the rhizosphere and analysed for pH and P fractions.