The selenium uptake and its distribution in parts of one-year old apple trees

Abstract

In this investigation a selenium uptake and its distribution in parts of one-year old apple trees was estimated. The experiment was conducted under glasshouse conditions, where the 10 kg pots were filled with brown forest soil. The soil was fertilized with Na2SeO4, where the selenium was added as 0 kg Se/ha, 0.5 kg Se/ha and 1.5 kg Se/ha respectively. Three pots planted with Melrose apple cultivar (grafted on M 9 rootstock), with 3 trees each treatment. The experiment lasted from March to September, when the plants were separated into root, rootstock, bark of rootstock, scion and leaves for chemical analysis. The analyzed plants positively correlated with the applied selenium fertilizer with significant increase of its concentration, especially in roots, bark of rootstock and leaves. According to the Se content in organs of control plants (0.03-0.04 |ig/g), the highest dose was most efficient (root 2.08 (xgSe/g, bark of rootstock 0.78 μgSe/g, leaves 0.72 (μgSe/g), while the wood mass of plants was less affected by Se fertilization (rootstock 0.10 μgSe/g, scion 0.09 μgSe/g) The distribution of Se indicate a polar distribution of this element in apple plants.