What affects the degree of nitrate leaching?
How much water a soil can hold strongly influences how much leaching will take place. For example, by their nature sandy soils cannot hold as much water as clay soils. This means that leaching of nitrates will take place much more easily in a sandy soil compared to a clay soil. Often, leaching is not a significant factor in heavy clay soils. Other factors that can affect nitrate leaching include amount of rainfall, amount of water use by plants, and how much nitrate (NO-) is present in the soil system.
