Potato Calcium Nutrition And The Characteristics Of Potassium-Calcium Interaction Research

Calcium is one of the essential mineral nutrients for plant growth and development,and an adequate supply of calcium can ensure the healthy growth of potatoes.The low calcium content in potato tubers affects the physiological balance and storage quality of potatoes.How to increase the calcium content in tubers has become a crucial technical issue in potato production.In this study,different experiments were conducted to investigate the main pathways of calcium nutrition absorption in potatoes by applying calcium to different root zones.In combination with the problem of excessive potassium fertilizer application in current potato production,potassium-calcium interaction experiments were conducted to seek the potassium-calcium supply ratio or plant potassium/calcium ratio that can meet both high yield and storage requirements,and to clarify the physiological basis for the coordinated regulation of potato growth,tuber yield,and quality by potassium and calcium.Through research on different potato varieties,information is provided for high-yielding,high-quality,and storage-tolerant potatoes.The main research findings are as follows:1.Calcium application to the main stem root significantly increased the calcium content and accumulation in the roots,underground stems,aboveground stems,and leaves,while calcium application to the stolon significantly increased the calcium content and accumulation in the tubers,aboveground stems,and leaves.Simultaneous calcium application to the main stem root and stolon significantly increased the calcium content and accumulation in the roots,underground stems,aboveground stems,leaves,and tubers.The calcium in the tubers originated from the stolon.2.Excessive potassium application significantly increased the potassium-to-calcium ratio in plants.Increasing soil calcium concentration or decreasing the potassium-to-calcium ratio significantly increased the calcium content and hardness of tubers.3.Different genotypes of potato varieties showed significant differences in yield,commercial tuber rate,calcium content,and tuber hardness.Based on yield and tuber hardness,different genotypes of potato varieties can be classified into four types:high-yielding and storage-tolerant,high-yielding but not storage-tolerant,low-yielding and storage-tolerant,and low-yielding and not storage-tolerant.