Under different
phosphorus levels(+P and -P), the pot experiments were carried out to study the variation of root hydraulic
conductivity (Lp r) of corn, wheat and barley seedlings treated with different irrigation (normal water supply, medium
drought stress, heavy drought stress), and the recovery ability of Lp r during the course of water re-supplies in the pressure chamber. The results showed that under different water regime, the Lp r of -P was always lower than that of +P treatment, and the former decreased more sharply than the latter with the strengthening of drought. The Lp r recovery ability of the former was obliviously lower than the latter during the course of water re-supplies, and it indicated that
phosphorus took a very important role on improving the adaptability to drought and Lp r recovery ability of crops. The influence of drought stress and phosphorus stress to Lp r of different crops and cultivars was different. Wheat and barley had higher Lp r under normal water supply, and the differentiation was great between the treatments of +P and -P. To the drought-resistant cultivar Shanhe 6, pre-stressed seedlings had higher Lp r and stronger Lp r recovery ability after water re-supplies; but to water-sensitive cultivar Zhengyin 1, the Lp r decreased largely under drought stress, and Lp r recovery ability was weak after water re-supplies.