Abstract:
Nutrient consumption by plants depends on the growth stage and environmental conditions.
In general, plants take up species of elements at different speeds. We monitored and recorded
the electrical charge flow through xylem sap of tomato plants (Brillante F1) using femto/picoammeter
equipment (Keysight B2981A). This technique evaluates the nutrient uptake of tomato treated with
the most common macronutrients (KNO3; KH2PO4; Ca(NO3)2; KCl) by monitoring the electrical
conductivity for 24 h. The electrical conductivity of each treatment correlated with the plant growth
and development stages. The results showed that the tomato plants had a high consumption of nutrients
in the vegetative stage, while in other stages, they had a specific consumption, like phosphorus
for bulb formation, potassium for increasing the number of flowers and water for the ripening of
fruits. The quantitative evaluation of the ions absorbed by the plant was based on the magnitude
and shape of the electrical conductivity curves. Our technique is an efficient method to determine
nutrient consumption and is useful in predicting the deficiency of a certain element in tomato plants.
