GROWTH OF COTTON AS INFLUENCED BY LOW SUBSTRATE MOLYBDENUM

Cotton plants were grown for two generations in purified nutrient solutions. Mo was supplied at the rate of 1 ppm. to one group and withheld from a second series. In the advanced fruiting stage of the first-generation experiment, chlorotic growth was observed on some of the minus Mo plants, and in the second-generation experiment quantitative differences in growth were obtained between the two series. Mo deficiency was indicated by increased nitrate and reduced alcohol-soluble amino acid content. The present work suggests that the Mo content of the embryos is important from the standpoint of a critical level below which normal absorption and possibly assimilation of this element is greatly retarded.