Plant water status of apple trees and its measurement in the field. 6. Diurnal variations in the water potential of apple leaves and fruits of three varieties at two stress levels

Abstract

Delicious, Jonathan and Granny Smith differed in the pattern of diurnal variation in water potential in the fruit and leaves. Compared with leaf water potentials, fruit potentials showed much less diurnal variation, and it seems that fruits may be able to exercise better control over water balance than leaves. Fruits do not seem to be a sensitive indicator of plant water stress, and therefore would seem to be of limited use for irrigation indexing.