This paper deals with the adsorption and desorption characteristics of kaoline to organic carbon and three nutrient elements, i.e. nitrogen, phosphorus and potash. The adsorption amounts of nano-kaoline to organic carbon , nitrogen, phosphorus and potash were higher than natural kaoline; especially, the adsorption amounts of nano-kaoline to nitrogen, phosphorus, patosh, and organic carbon were 1.5-1.7, 1.9-2.2 , 1.4-2.0, and 1.3-1.9 times higher than that of natural kaoline, respectively. The desorption amounts of natural kaoline and nano-kaoline increased with the increase of the adsorption amounts of organic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and potash. Both natural and nano-kaoline adsorption properties could be depicted with Langmuir and Freundlich equations.