The greatest accumulation generally occurs in clay soils, followed by loam and coarse-textured sands. Visual evidence of calcium deficiencies generally occurs in growing points of the plant at the fruit, stem, leaf, and root tips. Magnesium is also involved in energy metabolism in the plant and is required for protein formation. Depletion of calcium and magnesium reserves in the soil by crop removal is rarely a problem in limed soils because of the large quantity of these nutrients that are present in liming materials. However, some crops, such as peanuts, may require more calcium than the crops can remove.
Sulfur is required by plants in about the same quantity as phosphorus.
Sulfur, just as nitrogen, is mobile in soils and can be lost by leaching. Leaching is greatest in coarse-textured soils under high rainfall conditions and least in limed clay soils that are low in aluminum and iron. In North Carolina, most of the sulfur in surface soils is associated with organic matter. About 10 pounds of sulfur per acre are deposited annually by rainfall in North Carolina. Values for crop removal may be useful guides for sulfur fertilization on coarse-textured, sandy soils with clay subsoils at depths greater than 15 inches.