Nutrient Concentrations and Interactions in Young Leaves of Potato Plants Growing With and Without Tubers

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Abstract
Potato plants (King Edward) were grown in soil in buckets under glass. Sampling young leaves showed that giving potassium initially increased the magnesium concentration in leaf dry matter but decreased it after the tubers started to form. Removing tubers had little effect on this change and did not prevent changes that occurred in leaf potassium, phosphorus and calcium concentrations, suggesting that the partitioning of nutrients between shoot growth and tuber growth was not regulated simply by competition. Removing the tubers or giving potassium increased the total life of the haulm, by 50 and 27 d respectively. Tuber removal lessened water use but giving potassium increased it, probably because it resulted in larger plants. Removing the tubers caused abnormal growths from axillary buds and thickened starchy stem bases; the latter were augmented by giving potassium.

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