Abstract: The effects of phosphate starvation on growth state and phosphorus uptake of tomato seedlings were studied in this paper. In the studies, the seedlings were arranged to grow in complete (Pi - adequate) or Pi -depleted nutrient solution. The results revealed that, under Pi - starved conditions, the average height of the seedings decreased to a certain degree, while the main roots of the seedlings were obviously longer than those of the controls, especially under phosphate starvation for 5 and 7 d. Therefore the root / shoot ratios of the seedlings under Pi- starved conditions were also obviously higher than those of the controls. In addition, the early days of phosphate starvation had no obvious effect on the fresh weight (FW) accumulation of the seedlings, while the late days of starvation had some effect so that the fresh weight accumulation of the seedlings gradually became markedly less than the control.

Key words: Tomato(Lycopersicon esculentum), Phosphate starvation, Growth state, Phosphorus uptake