Nutrient interaction in leaves, shoots, and ears in wheat at flowering

Abstract

Winter wheat was grown in Mitscherlich pots on soils obtained from 12 fields from the provinces of Salamanca, Valladolid, and Zamora (Spain). The pots were fertilized with eight fertilizer treatments which were combinations of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potasium, and the crop was watered as necessary. Plants were harvested at flowering and plants were divided into different parts: leaves, ears, and the remaining vegetative matter. Dry weight was recorded and the mineral content determined. The relationships between the elements were fitted into straight line, potential, logarithmic, inverse, and quadratic functions. The results showed less relationship among elements in the leaf and their homologous in the shoot than among elements in the leaf and their homologous in the ears, although the former had greater significance especially for the cations. The potential function quantifies the relationship of the leaf‐shoot satisfactorily except for nitrogen and potassium for which potential and inverse, respectively, was the best fit. The interaction between mineral elements within the leaves is expressed better by the second degree equations and by the straight line equations as compared to the others.