A comparison of cation sampling in forest soils by tension and tension-free lysimeters

--Field tests conducted in two soils with ceramic cup, ceramic plate, and tension-free lysimeters showed no concentration differences in collected cations (Ca, Mg, K, Na) between cups and plates, except for the hydrogen ion. Mean pH was 0.6 lower in cup collected samples for a sandy loam profile. Tension-free lysimeters of the design tested had persistent contamination from a glasswool component and yielded samples at a 60 cm depth from a clay loam profile and not from a loamy sand soil. Laboratory trails showed a marked response delay with plate lysimeters when sampling changing cation concentrations.