Changes in concentrations of major nutrients in developing bolls of hybrid cotton

The leaf subtending the developing boll of the interspecific hybrid Varalaxmi recorded higher depletion of nitrogen, phosphorus and potash than the leaves of the female parent Laxmi or the pollinator parent SB 289 E. Also the quantitative decrease in phosphorus in the bracts as the boll developed, was more in the hybrid than the parents. From anthesis onwards developing seeds of the hybrid were low in potash than the parents though at maturity the differences were rather insignificant. These seeds compared with the parents contained lesser nitrogen and were intermediate in their phosphorus content while bolls accounted for higher phosphorus and carpels for the maximum potash.