Although knowledge of the interdependence between banana mother and daughter plants is important to establish adequate management practices, the subject has been little studied in Brazil. An experiment was set up to measure 32P redistribution between mother and daughter plants, grown for 2, 4 and 6 months, with and without P fertilization, applying 32P in the soil. Masses increased until the last harvest, being higher in mothers (1450 g) than in daughters (900 g), without fertilizer effect. Rhizomes had the highest plant biomasses (53-68%) and corm the lowest ones (2-4%), while the opposite occurred with P rates (0.14-0.26 e 0.33-0.54%). At all harvests, there were redistribution between mothers and daughters, and vice versa, but while mothers retained most of their P, although declining with time (95 to 78%); daughters divided their P equally with their mothers, except at the last harvest when they retained more (60%). More 32P was translated to rhizomes and pseudo stems and less to corms, with leaves and roots at intermediate positions. However, 32P concentrations per mass or total P units were higher in the corms. Therefore, mothers and daughters remained interdependent, with ample distribution of the absorbed 32P, although with preference for the corms.
corm; fertilization; leaves; rhizomes; specific activity; redistribution
