EFFECT OF SOIL MOISTURE ON NICOTINE ACCUMULATION DYNAMICS IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF A TOBACCO PLANT (NICOTIANA T)

Abstract

With an increase in soil moisture, an increase in the growth of a tobacco plant as a whole is determined by a predominant increase in the growth of the aerial part. The growth of the root system at low soil moisture (25% of HB) in the first period after planting seedlings is even stronger than at high humidity (80%). In the subsequent range from 27.5 to 31.0 mg per plant. Due to the faster growth of plants at elevated soil moisture, the relative (in mg per 100 grams of fresh weight) nicotine content in them is less. In subsequent periods (50 days after planting), the accumulation of nicotine in the plants of the "dry" variant begins to greatly outperform both the  amount of nicotine accumulation by the roots depends to a large extent on external conditions; there is no direct relationship between the growth of roots and the formation of nicotine by them. Rapid root growth may be accompanied by weak nicotine neoformation and, conversely, slow root growth is associated with the formation of large amounts of nicotine.