Soil nutrient status in Zhanjiang pepper planting areas

The soil nutrient status in Zhanjiang pepper planting areas were investigated in this research. Results showed that the average of soil pH value was 5.09，63.4% was 4.5-5.5 and 14.6% was below 4.5. The average value of soil organic matter was 2.10%，56.1% was below 2%，the soil organic matter was at medium to low level. Available nitrogen content was at a moderate level with average value of 127.1 mg/kg，87.7% was higher than 90.0 mg/kg，while available phosphorus（ average value of 72.5 mg/kg） and available potassium（average value of 231.0 mg/kg） were abundant. Available calcium content（ average value of 594.8 mg/kg） and magnesium content（average value of 145.7 mg/kg） were at medium to low level，and available zinc content was rich，while available boron content（average value of 0.24 mg/kg） was deficiency，all samples were below 0.64 mg/kg. It is suggested that in this region，nitrogen fertilization should be paied attention and especially the balance fertilization of nitrogen，phosphorus and potassium， application of organic manure and straws should be increased to improve soil fertility，calcium and magnesium fertilizer input should be added. In addition，the boron element could be supplemented by foliar application. Scientific fertilization based on soil test would be good to improve the benefits of pepper planting.