NONHOMOGENEITY OF BORON DISTRIBUTION IN PLANTS AND CONSEQUENCES FOR FOLIAR DIAGNOSIS

Authors
Citation
Jj. Oertli, NONHOMOGENEITY OF BORON DISTRIBUTION IN PLANTS AND CONSEQUENCES FOR FOLIAR DIAGNOSIS, Communications in soil science and plant analysis, 25(7-8), 1994, pp. 1133-1147
Citations number
15
Categorie Soggetti
Agriculture Soil Science","Plant Sciences","Chemistry Analytical
ISSN journal
00103624
Volume
25
Issue
7-8
Year of publication
1994
Pages
1133 - 1147
Database
ISI
SICI code
0010-3624(1994)25:7-8<1133:NOBDIP>2.0.ZU;2-0
Abstract
Soil and plant analyses are useful diagnostic tools only if they suppl y adequate information about the current state and can predict effects of different types of management. The prerequisites for reproducibili ty and consistency may not be met with boron which is not distributed homogeneously in plants. It accumulates in marginal areas and between veins, is transported with the transpiration stream and accumulates at terminal places of transpiration. The boron concentration within the same leaf may vary 100-fold and foliar analyses represent an average v alue only. Moreover, the boron content increases with the age of leave s, and there is no indication of a homeostatic control of foliar boron contents. Accurate, representative sampling may thus be difficult and critical. An extreme case is shown where toxicity occurs in old leave s and deficiency in new growth. The rate of transpiration greatly affe cts boron transport into leaves and its distribution. Predictions must thus take water relations into account.