Sodium toxicity and cation imbalance in dry beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)

Summary Leaf burn and gradual death were the characteristic symptoms of injury in P. vulgaris sown on a sodic soil. Plant growth, total leaf area per plant, number of stomata and epidermal cells per unit leaf area, and relative water content were drastically reduced in injured plants; these were associated with large sodium accumulation in the shoot resulting in cation imbalance.