Abstract
EATON1 found that a tomato plant with half its root system in distilled water and the other half in nutrient solution, after an initial period of three days, absorbed more water from the nutrient solution than from the pure water. He attributed this difference to reduced root growth in distilled water. However, it has been shown that an inadequate external solute supply can lower the osmotic pressure of the xylem sap2, and it has been postulated that the metabolism and permeability of the roots may be affected by the concentration of the external solution3. Part of the difference in water absorption from distilled water and nutrient solution might be caused by such effects, and this has been demonstrated during the course of experiments at this Station on the relationship between water absorption and the concentration of the external solution.
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References
Eaton, F. M., Plant Physiol., 16, 545 (1941).
Crafts, A. S., and Broyer, T. C., Amer. J. Bot., 25, 529 (1938).
Broyer, T. C., Plant Physiol., 25, 420 (1950).
Hewitt, E. J., Sand and Water Culture Methods used in the Study of Plant Nutrition (Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux, Farnham Royal, 1952).
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DREW, D. A Nutrient Requirement for Optimum Water Absorption by Intact Root Systems. Nature 199, 93–94 (1963). https://doi.org/10.1038/199093a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/199093a0
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