Plants need a number of elements to stay alive. The most important are: Carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Plants get hydrogen and oxygen from the water in the soil, and carbon and oxygen from carbon dioxide and oxygen from the atomsphere.
Water and carbon dioxide are used to synthesise food during photosynthesis. Oxygen is used to release energy from food during respiration.
In addition to these three elements plants also need minerals for healthy growth. These are absorbed through the roots as mineral ions are dissolved in the soil water. The two most important mineral ions needed for plants are: Nitrate ( for making amino acids, which are needed to make proteins.) And magnesium ( for making chlorophyll.
If plants do not get enough minerals its growth will be poor. It will suffer form difficiency syptoms: deficent in nitrate ( it will suffer from stunted growth) deficient in magnesium ( its leaves will turn yellow)
Comments
No comments have yet been made