Although you may be aware of the fact that plants use their roots to absorb essential nutrients like nitrogen, you may not know the exact reason behind their need to gain nitrogen. So, let us start by telling you that nitrogen is a macro-nutrient that is highly important for the healthy growth of plants. If plants do not receive this component, then they may also show signs of nutritional deficiency as human beings do.
All living creatures need food to survive and grow, and plants are no exception. Unlike human beings and animals, plants make their food without moving anywhere. They are able to do so with the help of their leaves and roots in the presence of sunlight. This process of making food for themselves is known as photosynthesis in plants. Comprised of two words, “photo” meaning “light” and “synthesis” meaning “putting together,” photosynthesis is a chemical reaction that relies on some chemical reactants and stomata in the leaf for carrying out the entire process.
Just like us and other living creatures on the earth, plants also need air to survive. While we, the human beings, need air only to breathe in, the plants need it for making their food as well. During the day and night time, plants inhale oxygen for survival. They absorb oxygen through pores found on undersides of the leaves. The oxygen spreads into the live cells of plants and makes them breathe. Carbon dioxide also seeps out through these pores.
A leaf is the primary organ of any plant and just like human organs, a leaf is essential for the survival of a plant, until it itself stops it food making process and conserves nutrients and water during winters. Typically a leaf is a thin, flattened organ borne above the ground by plants to get access to sunlight and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The shape and size of the leaf maximizes the surface area exposed to light and promotes the photosynthetic function. Moreover, leaves are naturally arranged on a plant in such ways so as to expose their surface to light as efficiently as possible and without shading other leaves.
One of the first things that a child learns is that plants are green. While at most times, the education about the color of plants stops here, there are a few who counter question that why exactly are the plants green? This might be one of the simplest questions, but ask yourself… do you really know the answer? Let us help you out with this. Plants are green because they have chloroplasts inside them, which are tiny organelles that plants require to carry on photosynthesis.
Essentially trees can be categorized in two groups, evergreen trees and deciduous trees. While the former, as the name suggests, don’t shed their leaves and remain green throughout the year, on the other hand, the shed their leaves every autumn to battle cold, dark and harsh winters. As soon as the autumn approaches, leaves of deciduous trees start changing color, from red to yellow and then brown, and gradually drop down to the forest floor.
We love to see greenery around us. However, have we ever tried to answer some basic questions that may sound very simple in nature, but demand a reply for sure? Like why do plants need sunlight? Why they fail to grow that steadily with artificial light? What is a phototroph? And, what helps plants make their own food and ultimately flourish, and so on?
