The agricultural potential of dredged materials as evaluated by elemental composition of growing plants

The potential for using dredged materials (DM) as a plant growth medium and as an amendment for marginally productive agricultural soils was evaluated by studying the elemental composition of plants grown on DM and soil-DM admixtures. Barley and ryegrass grown on selected DM produced dry matter nearly equal to that of plants grown on Minnesota agricultural soils in the greenhouse. Plant growth on some sediments was limited by suspected P and Mg deficiencies. Reduced, species-dependent dry matter production was correlated with excessive tissue concentrations of Al, B, Cu, Mn, and/or Zn. Additions of fine-textured DM to coarse-textured, marginally productive soils resulted in increased dry matter production, while additions of coarse-textured DM to fine-textured soils reduced their yields. Barley was generally more susceptible to growth depressions than ryegrass. Additional study results are reported in the paper.