3. Plant nutrition and soil

Question 1

Why is plant nutrition important?

Answer 1

• needed to complete its life cycle
• essential to plant health

Question 2

Macro nutrients

Answer 2

• Carbon Hydrogen, Oxygen
• Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium
• Calcium, magnesium, sulfur

Question 3

Micro nutrients

Answer 3

• chlorine, iron, boron
• manganese, molybdenum
  -zinc, copper, nickel

Question 4

What does etiolated mean?

Answer 4

refers to a plant or its parts that have grown in conditions of insufficient light. It is often used to describe plants or seedlings that are pale, elongated, and weak due to a lack of light exposure

Question 5

Role of N, P, K, and Ca play in plants

Answer 5

N- chlorophylls, amino acids, and proteins
P- ATP and ADP, nucleic acids, and phospholipids
K- Osmosis, ionic balancing for stomata
Ca- middle lamella of cell walls, cellular membrane permeability, enzyme

Question 6

where is magnesium found

Answer 6

chloroplast

Question 7

Necrosis vs chlorosis

Answer 7

chlorosis- yellowing, loss of nitrogen
Necrosis- brown and dead, all nutrients lost

Question 8

Phloem mobile vs phloem immobile

Answer 8

Mobile- Mg, N, P, K, older leaves first
Immobile- B, Fe, Ca, younger leaves first, do not move

Question 9

What is soil? Layers; where do components come from?

Answer 9

50% minerals, 1-5% organic matter, 25% water, and 25% air
organic layer, topsoil, eluvianation, subsoil
minerals from weathered rock

Question 10

Field capacity

Answer 10

field capacity- amount of water in soil for plant growth
sand- water drains quickly; more air space
clay- water drains SLOWLY; minimal air space

Question 11

permanent wilting point

Answer 11

when a plant has no water and wilts to a point that even if it gets water, it cannot regain turgor

Question 12

What is soil organic matter? Why is it important?

Answer 12

1-5% of soil
made of living and nonliving materials and humus
OM affects everything about the soil
- provides nutrients to the plant
-protect soil ecosystem
- increases water and nutrient retention

Question 13

Soil livestock – what do they need? What do earthworms do?

Answer 13

top 6” of topsoil
tills the soil
eats dead plat material and redistributes OM and nutrients through topsoil through there poop

Question 14

ammonification

Answer 14

micro organisms break down dead plant’s and animals to release NH4
ammonium dissolves in soil water

Question 15

nitrification

Answer 15

ammonium converted to nitrate NO3

Question 16

Denitrification

Answer 16

major loss of nitrogen from soil
nitrate is converted to nitrogen gas
lost by plant removal, soil erosion, leaching, and burning

Question 17

nitrogen fixation

Answer 17

atmospheric nitrogen N2 is reduced to NH4 and made available to produce amino acids

Question 18

natural vs industrial

Answer 18

all commercial nitrogen fertilizers are manufactured using the Harber-Bosch process where atmospheric nitrogen is fixed at high temperatures and high pressure and hydrogen gas
-require LOTS of fossil fuels
-legumes do this naturally