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Studies on potassium nutrition of plants. I.—Effects of potassium concentration on growth and mineral composition of vegetable seedlings in sand culture
Author(s) -
Freeman G. G.
Publication year - 1967
Publication title -
journal of the science of food and agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1097-0010
pISSN - 0022-5142
DOI - 10.1002/jsfa.2740180410
Subject(s) - potassium , magnesium , sodium , composition (language) , chemistry , calcium , nutrient , agronomy , mineral , botany , food science , horticulture , zoology , biology , organic chemistry , philosophy , linguistics
The effect of potassium concentration in the nutrient medium on growth and mineral composition (N, K, P, Ca, Mg, Na) of red beet, cabbage, lettuce and Italian ryegrass in sand culture was investigated. It was shown that the results and those of some earlier workers can be interpreted as a simple linear relationship by means of the equation: where y is plant weight or leaf potassium content, x is potassium concentration in the nutrient medium and a, b and x 0 are constants. Sand‐grown plants contained relatively high concentrations of sodium, which played an important part in the maintenance of cation balance under these conditions. In red beet, cabbage and ryegrass, changes in potassium content were almost completely balanced by corresponding changes in sodium content with relative constancy of calcium and magnesium, whereas in lettuce, calcium and magnesium also functioned in maintaining the balance.