The present study was carried out in 1995 to investigate why plants cultivated in a Red-Yellow Podzolic in the State of Acre, in the Brazilian Amazon, presenting high amounts of exchangeable aluminum, have not shown symptoms of toxicity to this element or yield reduction. The exchangeable Al3+ in the B horizon is higher than 14 cmol c dm-3. Samples of the A and B horizons were incubated with increasing rates of lime and subjected to determination of pH in H2O, pH in 0.01 mol L-1 CaCl2 and of the content of exchangeable Al extracted with 1 mol L-1 KCl, determined either by titration with 0.02 mol L-1 NaOH or by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. In a second experiment, two cultivars of rice plus common beans and corn were planted in pots containing samples of the A and B horizons of the soil; in 50% of the pots the samples were previously limed in order to increase the base saturation to 80%. After 60 days, plant roots and tops were removed, dried, weighed and subjected to determination of Al. In a third study, aluminum concentration in the soil solution was determined utilizing extracts collected from saturated samples previously incubated with increasing rates of lime. The concentrations of exchangeable Al determined by titration with 0.02 mol L-1 NaOH were similar to those obtained by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The influence of liming on dry matter yield and the absorption of Al by the plants was small and no clear relation was found between plant development or toxicity symptoms and exchangeable Al in the soil. The non-limed soil showed high concentrations of Al in the solution; however, toxicity symptoms were not found in the plants. For the Red-Yellow Podzolic, the exchangeable Al and the concentration of Al in solution were not reliable indexes for estimating the toxicity of this element to plants.
exchangeable aluminum; aluminum in soil solution; aluminum in plants; aluminum toxicity; rice; common bean; corn