Summary
Tomato plants grown in water culture under two different humidity regimes (50% R.H. and 95% R.H.) were harvested at intervals over the growth period and cation uptake and calcium distribution investigated. The following results were obtained:
-
1.
Plants in the high humidity regime initially grew faster but at the final harvest after 22 days, dry matter yields were the same.
-
2.
In the high humidity treatment particularly towards the end of the experiment, the growth of the young leaves was disturbed and the plants showed symptoms resembling Ca or B deficiency. Analysis revealed that these tissues were lower in Ca than comparative tissues of the low humidity plants. The converse was true for B.
-
3.
Cation uptake was little affected by the humidity treatment. However, the distribution of calcium within the plant was markedly influenced by humidity. In the high humidity treatment the level of Ca in the young leaves was very low and Ca accumulated in the stems. A high proportion of both Ca and Mg in these younger Ca deficient leaves was found to be associated with pectate. The same trend was observed in the stems, more of the Ca and Mg in this case being bound to oxalate as well as pectate. These results further indicate the possible significance of exchange movement of Ca particularly under low transpiration conditions when Ca transport by mass flow is restricted.
-
4.
Xylem sap analysis showed a close cation-anion balance in all samples. NO3-ion was the predominant anion and the two major cations were K and Ca. This provides further evidence that the upper plant parts provide the major site of NO3-reduction in the tomato plant.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Bell, C. W. and Biddulph, O. 1963 Translocation of calcium. Exchange versus mass flow. Plant Physiol.38, 610–614.
Ferguson, I. B. and Clarkson, D. T. 1976 Simultaneous uptake and translocation of magnesium and calcium in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) roots. Planta128, 267–269.
Hall, D. A. 1971 The influence of varied calcium nutrition on the growth and ionic composition of plants. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Leeds.
Hanger, B. C. 1979 The Movement of calcium in plants. Commun. Soil Sci. Plant Anal.In Press.
Hylmö, B. 1953 Transpiration and ion absorption. Physiol. Plant.6, 333–405.
Isermann, K. 1970 Der Einfluss von Adsorptionsvorgängen im Xylem auf die Calcium-Verteilung in der höheren Pflanze. Z. Pflanzenernaehr. Bodenkd.126, 191–203.
Kirkby, E. A. 1979 Maximizing calcium uptake. Commun. Soil Sci. Plant Anal.In Press.
Kirkby, E. A. and Knight, A. H. 1977 Influence of the level of nitrate nutrition on ion uptake an assimilation, organic acid accumulation and cation-anion balance in whole tomato plants. Plant Physiol.60, 349–353.
Kirkby, E. A. and Mengel, K. 1967 Ionic balance in different tissues of the tomato plant in relation to nitrate, urea or ammonium nutrition. Plant Physiol.42, 6–14.
Knight, A. H., Unpublished data.
Koontz, B. V. and Foote, R. E. 1966 Transpiration and calcium deposition by unifoliate leaves ofPhaseolus vulgaris differing in maturity. Physiol. Plant.19, 313–321.
Lange, O. L., Lösch, R., Schulze, E-D, and Kappen, L. 1971 Response of stomata to changes in humidity. Planta100, 76–86.
Lazaroff, N. and Pitman, M. G. 1966 Calcium and magnesium uptake by barley seedlings. Aust. J. Biol. Sci.19, 991–1005.
Loneragan, J. F. and Snowball, K. 1969 Calcium requirement of plants. Aust. J. Agric. Res.20, 465–478.
Maas, E. V. 1969 Calcium uptake by excised maize roots and interactions with alkali cations. Plant Physiol.44, 985–989.
Marschner, H. 1974 Calcium nutrition of higher plants. Neth. J. Agric. Sci.22, 275–282.
Marschner, H. and Ossenberg-Neuhaus, H. 1977 Wirkung von 2,3,5-Trijodbezoesäure (TIBA) auf den Calcium-transport und Kationenaustauschkapazität in Sonnenblumen. Z. Pflanzenphysiol. Bd.85, 29–44.
Marschner, H. and Richter, C. H. 1974 Calcium-Transport in Wurzeln von Mais-und Bohnenkeimpflanzen. Plant and Soil40, 193–210.
Mengel, K. and Kirkby, E. A. 1978 Principles of Plant Nutrition. International Potash Institute, Bern, Switzerland, 593 p.
Michael, G. and Marschner, H. 1962 Einfluss unterschiedlicher Luftfeuchtigkeit und Transpiration auf Mineralstoffaufnahme und-Verteilung. Z. Pflanzenernaehr. Bodenkd.96, 200–212.
Michael, G., Wilberg, E. and Kouhsiahi-Tork, K. 1969 Durch hohe Luftfeuchtigkeit Induzierter Bormangel. Z. Pflanzenerernaehr. Bodenkd.122, 1–3.
Palzkill, D. A. and Tibbitts, T. W. 1977 Evidence that root pressure flow is required for calcium transport to head leaves of cabbage. Plant Physiol.70, 854–856. (1977).
Shear, C. B. 1975 Calcium-related disorders of fruits and vegetables. Hortic. Sci.10, 361–365. (1975).
Sheriff, D. W. 1977 The effect of humidity on water uptake by, and viscous flow resistance of, excised leaves of a number of species: physiological and anatomical observations. J. Expt. Bot.28, 1399–1407 (1977).
Spanswick, R. M. and Williams, E. J. 1964 Electrical potentials and Na, K and Cl concentrations in the vacuole and cytoplasm ofNitella translucens. J. Exp. Bot.15, 193–200.
Swallis, A. A. and O'Leary, J. W. 1975 The effect of relative humidity on growth, water consumption and calcium uptake in tomato plants. J. Ariz. Acad. Sci.10, 87–89.
Van de Geijn, S. C. Petit, C. M. and Roelofsen, H. 1979 Measurement of the cation exchange capacity of the transport system in intact plant stems. Methodology and preliminary results. Commun. Soil Sci. Plant Anal.In Press.
Wiersum, L. K. 1979 Effects of environmental and cultural practices in calcium nutrition. Commun. Soil Sci. Plant Anal.In Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Armstrong, M.J., Kirkby, E.A. The influence of humidity on the mineral composition of tomato plants with special reference to calcium distribution. Plant Soil 52, 427–435 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02185585
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02185585