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SeLection of an Alfalfa Plant Part for Phosphorus Analysis 1
Author(s) -
Chambliss C. G.,
Miller D. A.,
Jackobs J. A.
Publication year - 1970
Publication title -
agronomy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1435-0645
pISSN - 0002-1962
DOI - 10.2134/agronj1970.00021962006200020035x
Subject(s) - medicago sativa , phosphorus , agronomy , biology , sampling (signal processing) , growing season , maturity (psychological) , medicago , chemistry , biochemistry , gene , psychology , developmental psychology , organic chemistry , filter (signal processing) , computer science , computer vision
The objective of this study was to find an alfalfa ( Medicago sativa L.) plant part that (1) has low variability in phosphorus concentration, at a given level of available phosphorus, from one sampling to the next throughout the growing season, and (2) also adequately reflects differences between phosphorus treatments. Alfalfa plant samples were collected from field plots which had been topdressed with different levels of phosphorus. The samples were collected on nine different dates at various stages of maturity in 1966 and 1967. After collection the samples were separated into five plant parts consisting of top leaves, mid‐leaves, top stems, mid‐stems, and bottom stems. The mid stems consistently showed greater sensitivity to phosphorus treatments and had less variation across sampling dates than the other plant parts. Therefore the mid‐stem was considered to be the most suitable plant part to use in determining the phosphorus status of alfalfa.