Iron deficiency in coffee plants cultivated in ferric Latosols may be induced by conditions that affect the transport of this nutrient in soils, such as P concentration, high pH values and low soil moisture content. The iron diffusive flux (FeF) in soils was evaluated as a function of P rates and levels of acidity and moisture. Surface soil samples of a clayey dystroferric Red Latosol and a loamy-sand dystroferric Yellow Red Latosol were supplied with 20 mg dm-3 Fe as FeSO4, and then submitted to the following treatments: absence and presence of liming (60 % of base saturation), absence and presence of P fertilization (500 mg dm-3 as NH4H2PO4) and three moisture levels, corresponding to water potentials of -0.01, -0.04, and -0.1 MPa. Treatments were arranged in a 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 factorial combination, in a complete randomized block design, with three replications. To determine FeF, diffusion chambers were assembled. Each chamber with treated soil received a strip of cation exchange resin that acts as a Fe sink. After 10 days of soil contact, the total Fe adsorbed by the resin strip was extracted and the FeF estimated. Results showed that the FeF was highly dependent on soil moisture and acidity (liming) in both soils and in the clayey ferric Red Latosol it was also greatly influenced by P addition. The FeF increased with soil moisture and acidity, but decreased with P addition in the clayey soil, possibly due to the formation of insoluble Fe-P compounds in this soil.
water deficit; transport; liming; Latosol
