Sampling time of banana leaves for nutritional diagnosis

The relationship between yield and nutrient concentration in plants is the basis used as a diagnostic criterion for foliar analysis. There are several diagnostic methods that use the analysis of plant tissues where they play a key role in the definition and interpretation of plant nutritional status. The average nutrient concentration changes during the crop cycle, which is important for defining the time of leaf sampling. The purpose of this study was to determine the best sampling time of banana leaves, assuming that the best time is when the relationship between the relative growth rate of dry matter and of nutrient uptake is 1. It was concluded that the best time to sample banana leaves for the evaluation of the nutritional status would be six months after planting.

dilution effect; concentration effect; foliar sampling time