A greenhouse study was conducted at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, IL in 2003-2005, to evaluate the performance of various crops grown in a Watseka loamy sand (sandy, mixed, mesic Aquic Hapludolls) spiked with 0-50 (L set) and 0-250 (H set) mg kg-1 Ni. Each of the two sets was arranged in a randomized complete bock design with three replicates. All pots were fertilized with NPK and planted with tomato (Solanum) and bean (Phaseolus) spp. (L set), and Kentucky bluegrass (Poa) and fescue (Festuca) spp. (H set). Nickel profoundly affected seed germination and root development in all species (p<0.01). Generally, Ni at 5 (L) and 10 (H) mg kg-1 seemed beneficial, since plants in these treatments appeared to perform well and occasionally better than control plants. In Solanum, fruit and root Ni concentrations suggest that only a fraction of Ni is translocated from root to fruit. In this study, leaf Ni concentration is used as an index of phytotoxicity and is related to plant dry matter yield, in order to determine phytotoxic threshold Ni concentrations in plant tissue. For instance, Festuca leaf tissue Ni (5-267 mg kg-1) resulted in dry matter yields of 14.1-0.04 g/pot. Together with data from field studies on Ni uptake by these plants from biosolids-amended soil, data generated in this study may be useful in establishing guidelines for safe biosolids applications to agricultural soils.