Absorption of Soil Moisture by Maize Roots

Abstract

1. Observations of roots of young maize plants in a glass-front box were reasonably good estimates of the numbers of roots in a narrow box in the greenhouse. 2. Roots of established plants absorbed water from the soil more rapidly near the plant than at a distance of 3 or 4 feet. Roots of growing plants extracted water below the wilting percentage in soil near the plant when similar numbers of roots were present in moisture above the wilting percentage 4 feet away. 3. The water 4 feet from the plant was eventually absorbed after the soil near the plant was dried below the wilting percentage. 4. Growth of young plants under the conditions of these experiments was slowed by decreasing soil moisture and was stopped when the soil moisture percentage was still above the wilting percentage and the calculated wilting coefficient. 5. The absorption of water by roots is apparently a dynamic activity depending on the quantity of water in the soil and the distance between the water and the transpiring tops of the plants.