Effects of spoil texture on growth of K-31 tall fescue

Growth of K-31 tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) was significantly affected by the particle-size distribution, or texture, of four spoils from eastern Kentucky. Growth on spoils having no toxic chemical properties generally was greatest where texture consisted of about equal quantities of soil-size material and a coarser fraction (2 mm. to 6.4 mm.), probably because moisture and aeration were favorable. However, on two spoils, adverse chemical properties modified the effect of physical properties associated with texture. Toxic levels of Mn found in the smaller-size fractions probably reduced yields on one spoil. On another, the effect of texture was masked by toxic levels of Al in each of the three particle-size fractions.