Effects of excess Cd and Cu on the contents of total glutathione and phytochelatin (PC) were measured in roots and leaves of intact spinách piants. The total glutathione levels declined with the PCs synthesis. The kinetic data indicated that the shorter PCs were substrates for the longer PCs. PCs appear much earlier in roots than in leaves of intact spinách piants. The PC formation was stimulated most effectively by Cd, less so by Cu.