How do I know if I have a problem with saline and/or sodic soils?
Often the problem is obvious. Excess soluble salts will often crystallize on the surface of fallow fields, while thin, patchy salt crusts will form under clods or on the shady side of clods where marginal salt problems are found. Thick, continuous crusts form in saline seeps. Saline soils tend to inhibit germination and emergence of plants. Therefore, patterns of growth in cropped fields will be poor, with spotty stand establishment. Under severe salt stress, herbaceous crops appear bluish-green; leaf tip burn and die-off of older leaves in cereal grains can result from salinity or related drought stress.
