Dear RG community,
I would like to sample (cut-off) maize leaves in the field and transport them to the lab for SLA (specific leaf area) measurements. After a brief literature review, I could not find an exact explanation on how the sampling is done without harming the leaves. As the leaves can be quite large (~60-70 cm), how would I best store 50-100 leaves in bags? Already cutting them in sections in the field might be an option and then store them in sealed bags. I am wondering if anyone ever only took a section of the leaf for SLA measurements and tested whether this causes a major error. For corn at least. Just using width and length and multiply it by a correction factor is not sufficient to get a good leaf area estimate I guess.
What would be the most practical way to do this without using huge bags and ice containers?
René
Rene H.J. Heim Polythene envelope might be better option to avoid water loss (you can store at -4 oC if your number of samples are higher), meanwhile liquid-N can be more suitable option to slow down physiological process rather than ice (anyhow its depend on specific parameter which is under consideration)!
Thanks Muhammad. I guess I was not clear enough with my question. I rephrased it. I am wondering about the most practical way to transport a lot leaves without having to use super large bags and ice containers.
Dear Rene,
Could the harvesting of whole plant (shoot) disrupt your experiment? If not, you can harvest whole maize plants and tie them in a sheaf. The leaves remain on the plant for a relatively long time with minimal drying. You can cut the leaves in the laboratory just before the area measurement and than dry for dry mass. Of course, the transport from the field to the laboratory must be fast ...
I have experience that maize leaves curl slightly longitudinally at the time of drying. Their length does not change a lot. The area of maize leaves is relatively large, so the expected area reduction will be likely negligible.
I don't know if I helped. Anyway, I was very interested in your question...
Best regards,
BS
Thanks Bozena Sera ! That is a great suggestion. I will see if the field manager has an opinion on that:-) I guess I will test how much SLA differs from the entire leaf if you only cut a part of a leaf and measure SLA. Maybe something interesting to know.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Medicine
- Physiology
- Physiological Processes