Abstract
The purpose of this project was to determine what, if any, are the diurnal changes in nitrate concentration in potato leaves. In dried petioles there was a decrease in nitrate, on most days, from early morning to the middle of the day. The pattern of the change was found to be influenced to some extent by weather conditions, and some differences in average nitrate levels were found on different days. Nitrate in fresh sap was measured with a nitrate specific ion electrode and two quick tests. Nitrate in fresh petiole sap was found to have a different diurnal pattern than nitrate in dried petioles. That is, there was usually an increase in nitrate-N from early morning to the middle of the day, although the change was sometimes not significant. The nitrate concentration of the fresh sap was found to be sensitive to the water status of the plants and decreased after a heavy rain. In most cases the difference in nitrate concentration between plots receiving 83 kg N/ha and plots receiving 165 kg N/ha was greater than the diurnal change.
Published Version
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