Table 2.

Concentration of elements in roots and shoots and plant growth parameters of Zea mays

		Experimental variants
		G_NS	B_NS	P_NS	G_S	B_S	P_S
N (%)	root	0.95 ± 0.03abc	0.98 ± 0.05a	0.85 ± 0.03bc	0.83 ± 0.06 cd	0.77 ± 0.04c	0.97 ± 0.02ab
	shoot	1.20 ± 0.04ab	0.98 ± 0.04 cd	0.90 ± 0.02d	1.08 ± 0.07bc	0.85 ± 0.03d	1.23 ± 0.06a
P (mg kg−1)	root	1497 ± 77b	1978 ± 19a	678 ± 74c	1218 ± 270b	2068 ± 184a	589 ± 109c
	shoot	3212 ± 81a	3137 ± 64a	1041 ± 70b	3398 ± 89a	3433 ± 99a	1007 ± 34b
K (mg kg−1)	root	4651 ± 699d	20,363 ± 692a	11,399 ± 614c	3397 ± 880d	15,923 ± 1060b	9722 ± 613c
	shoot	18,556 ± 1299d	39,391 ± 716a	29,309 ± 1007b	9946 ± 1132e	33,006 ± 1583b	24,216 ± 390c
Mg (mg kg−1)	root	2774 ± 341a	1923 ± 90b	1465 ± 141bc	1748 ± 156b	1189 ± 137c	1422 ± 80bc
	shoot	3178 ± 315a	1356 ± 66 cd	1593 ± 55bc	2840 ± 158a	1106 ± 44d	1810 ± 53b
Ca (mg kg−1)	root	4723 ± 100a	3737 ± 195b	3548 ± 154b	4398 ± 86a	3497 ± 188b	3670 ± 474b
	shoot	5064 ± 123a	4468 ± 123b	4232 ± 123b	4268 ± 98b	3765 ± 111c	3809 ± 118c
Fe (mg kg−1)	root	2785 ± 625a	2103 ± 406ab	838 ± 202d	1827 ± 71ab	1684 ± 74b	803 ± 188d
	shoot	51.50 ± 5.97bc	91.43 ± 17.62a	65.55 ± 12.74abc	72.18 ± 8.61ab	82.60 ± 20.13ab	40.87 ± 3.95c
Cu (mg kg−1)	root	15.41 ± 4.80a	11.00 ± 1.67a	5.48 ± 1.06a	11.70 ± 3.37a	5.46 ± 1.22a	6.97 ± 0.60a
	shoot	2.25 ± 0.29a	2.19 ± 0.88a	1.34 ± 0.39a	2.37 ± 0.58a	2.25 ± 0.52a	1.88 ± 0.38a
Pb (mg kg−1)	root	42.23 ± 5.24b	64.65 ± 10.70b	125.03 ± 23.38a	32.39 ± 4.87b	64.96 ± 5.30b	169.41 ± 35.67a
	shoot	9.24 ± 1.62b	13.82 ± 3.74b	20.30 ± 3.29a	13.19 ± 1.96b	8.78 ± 2.19b	10.40 ± 1.25b
Cd (mg kg−1)	root	2.17 ± 0.49c	47.15 ± 9.36b	81.24 ± 7.68a	2.13 ± 0.69c	27.12 ± 9.79b	76.98 ± 11.94a
	shoot	0.55 ± 0.02c	0.83 ± 0.27c	2.40 ± 0.50b	0.22 ± 0.12c	1.82 ± 0.49b	7.86 ± 0.78a
Zn (mg kg−1)	root	246.5 ± 30.6c	1222.3 ± 84.2b	1692.3 ± 167.9a	175.8 ± 27.2c	950.0 ± 138.1b	1841.7 ± 195.9a
	shoot	72.94 ± 20.01d	300.03 ± 27.84c	568.81 ± 42.39b	61.48 ± 14.17d	299.79 ± 41.14c	959.93 ± 58.61a
Growth parameters
H (cm)		59 ± 1c	61 ± 1c	61 ± 1c	81 ± 3a	73 ± 2b	67 ± 3bc
root d.w. (g)		0.58 ± 0.03c	1.46 ± 0.12ab	0.65 ± 0.10c	1.59 ± 0.34ab	1.77 ± 0.33a	1.02 ± 0.35bc
shoot d.w. (g)		2.78 ± 0.44c	4.29 ± 0.38c	2.86 ± 0.22c	9.34 ± 1.38a	6.83 ± 0.54b	4.52 ± 0.46c

Values are means ± SE (n = 4). Lower case letters (a, b, c, d) denote significant difference between means in a row according to Fisher LSD test at P ≤ 0.05

G soil from Gliwice site (HM_low), B soil from Bytom site (HM_mod), P soil from Piekary Śląskie site(HM_high), NS nonsterile soil, S sterile soil, H shoot height