Redistribution of nutritive elements in a 'Gros Michel' banana plant.

Abstract

A procedure is described and leaf, rhizome and root analyses are presented for a one-year-old vegetative plant of the banana cv. Gros Michel grown under glass in a sandy soil supplied with organic and inorganic fertilizers. Silicon was used as an index element on the presumption that it is not redistributed within a plant. The results indicated that N, S, P, K and Cu were mainly redistributed into young leaves from the old leaves, the rhizome functioning as a circulation pump. In contrast, only small amounts of Mg, Cl, Fe and Zn (and no Ca) were redistributed. Most redistribution of N and S was in the organic, rather than inorganic, form of each element. (Abstract retrieved from CAB Abstracts by CABI’s permission)