The phosphorus requirement of lettuce: II. A dynamic model of phosphorus uptake and growth

Abstract

Summary: A dynamic model is presented in which the problem of predicting P response is broken down into various components, such as:(a) Weight and P content of emerging seedling.(b) Normal growth curve of the fully nourished plant.(c) A ‘deficiency-tolerance’ factor relating depression of relative growth rate to plant P concentration.(d) An ‘affinity’ term relating sink concentration to P status of plant.(e) A perirhizal resistance term for diffusive transport to roots.(f) Capacity and intensity of P supply from the soil. Mass flow supply via the transpiration stream is also included.By changing parameter values one may attempt to simulate the effect of any of these factors on the shape of the P response curve and any other part of the system throughout crop life. At present the model over-estimates growth at low levels of P supply, but predicted plant P concentrations agree reasonably well with observed data.