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Measurement of Matric Potential in Plant Tissue with a Hydraulic Press¹

In order to determine the suitability of using a simple hydraulic press for matric potential measurements on plant tissue, measurements made with the hydraulic press were compared with measurements made using a pressure chamber. Leaf tissue from Phalaris arundinacea, Rhus glabra, Pinus ponderosa, Triticum aestivum, and Zea mays was pretreated by freezing and thawing to destroy membranes, so only the matric component of the potential was measured. The samples were then dried for varying lengths of time and matric potentials were measured with the pressure chamber and the hydraulic press. Correlations of measurements on the five species showed slopes which did not differ significantly from 1, intercepts which did not differ significantly from zero, and correlation coefficients ranging from 0.96 to 1.00. The hydraulic press method is faster and easier than the pressure chamber, and required equipment is less expensive.

Key Words: Pressure chamber • Apoplastic water

² Graduate student. and associate professor, Dep. of Agronomy and Soils, Washington State Univ., Pullman, WA 99164. Senior author is currently lecturer in Soil Science at the Dep. of Soil Science, Univ. of Dar-es-Salaam, P. 0. Box 643, Morogoro, Tanzania.

Received for publication September 17, 1979.