In a greenhouse experiment, the effect of fluoride (F) and phosphorus (P) addition on the growth and mineral composition of barley (Hordeum vulgareL.) was studied in three different soils, Cahaba sandy loam (acid), Weld loam (neutral), and Haverson silty loam (alkaline calcareous). Four levels of F [0, 100, 400, and 1,000 mg kg‐1soil as hydrogen fluoride (HF)] and three levels of P [50, 150, and 550 mg kg‐1soil as phosphoric acid (H3PO4)] were used. The effect of P addition on the native soil F and the capacity of soil to sorb added F was investigated. Addition of P released some of the native F from the soil samples that did not receive any F. The amount of F released ranged from 0.135 to 1.860 mg kg‐1soil. The amount of F released from the soils decreased with increasing P addition. Most of F added was sorbed by the soil solid phase. The amount of F sorbed ranged between 74.0% and 96.3% of the added F. For both the acid and neutral soils, increasing P addition increased F sorption at all F levels. In the case of alkaline soil, however, this effect was only clear at the low F level. The formation of insoluble F minerals may be enhanced by the addition of P to the soils. In the greenhouse experiment, F addition had a negative effect on dry matter yield (DMY) of barley grown on the acid and neutral soil while no effect was observed for the alkaline soil. These results may reflect the effect of F addition on the solubility of aluminum (Al) and other metals in the soils. On the other hand, increasing F addition from 50 to 550 mg kg‐1soil had no clear effect on DMY of plants in the three soils. The study also included the effect of F and P addition on their uptake by plants. Generally, addition of P depressed F uptake by plants grown on the three soils. On the other hand, increasing F addition depressed P uptake for the acid soil while no clear trend was observed for the neutral and alkaline soil. A significant positive effect of F addition on Al uptake was observed for both the acid and neutral soils. A highly significant correlation of 0.87 and 0.60 was obtained between soil extractable F and Al uptake for the acid and neutral soil, respectively. Addition of F to the alkaline soil resulted in minor increases in Al uptake. The effect of P addition, at different levels of F, on Al uptake was investigated for the three soils. For the acid soil, significant decrease in Al uptake was observed only at the highest F level. The effect of P addition on Al uptake was not clear in the other two soils.