Greenhouse studies have shown that silver is taken up much less readily from AgI than from AgNO3. The silver concentrations in roots and stems of sugar beets, corn and kentucky blue grass grown in soil treated with 26 mg silver/kg as AgNO3 were 4 to 24 times the concentrations in plants grown in soil treated with 12 mg silver/kg as AgI.
No increase in the silver concentrations of maize and soybean grown on loam or sand soils, and wheat grown on loam soils, treated with 1 gm/kg silver as AgI were noted compared to the control soils. Wheat grown on silver-treated sand soils showed a six fold increase in silver in the tissues. No increase in the silver concentrations of maize grown on loam or sand soils treated with 1 gm/kg silver as AgNO3 were noted compared to the control soils (Klein 1978, Teller and Klein 1973, Weaver and Klarich 1973).