Minerals for healthy growth Flashcards
What are the most important elements that a plant needs to stay alive?
- Carbon
- Hydrogen
- Oxygen
- Nitrogen
How to plants get hydrogen and oxygen?
- From the water in the soil
- Oxygen from the atmosphere as well
Where plants get carbon dioxide and carbon from?
- The atmosphere
In addition to some important elements, plants need mineral ions as well.
Name these mineral ions.
- Nitrates
- Magnesium
- Phosphates
- Potassium
What is magnesium used for?
What would happen to a plant without it?
- To make chlorophyll, the green pigment used to absorb light in photosynthesis.
- The leaves will turn yellow
What are nitrates used for?
What would happen without nitrates?
- To make amino acids that can make proteins which will allow the plant to grow
- It would suffer from stunted growth and have yellow older leaves
What are phosphates used for?
What would happen without phosphates?
- Phosphorous is needed to make DNA and cell membranes. Needed for respiration and growth.
- Poor root growth, purple older leaves
What is potassium used for?
- For respiration and photosynthesis. Potassium is needed for enzymes involved in respiration and photosynthesis
- Poor growth of fruit and flowers, discoloured leaves
How can plants absorb minerals?
Plants can only absorb soluble minerals (those that can dissolve in water). They absorb minerals dissolved in solution from the soil through their root hair cells, which have a very high surface area.
How do plants absorb minerals? Why?
Active transport. This is because there is a very low concentration of minerals in the soil so diffusion would not work.
The root hair cells have carrier molecules on their cell membranes. These pick up the mineral ions and move them across the membrane into the cell against the concentration gradient.
