An improved sodium salicylate‐hypochlorite, automated method for ammonium in soil extracting solutions using nitroprusslde as catalyst has been investigated. This method is 2 to 3 times more sensitive than previously published procedures and also is less subject to interferences, has less noise in the signal, and has two alternative ranges. The range with maximum sensitivity is linear to about 2.5 ppm; the second range is linear to 9 ppm. The procedures and instrumentation are simple for both ranges.