Plant Growth Requirements Flashcards
What is a microclimate?
Climate conditions within a small localized area such as terrain, vegetation, buildings and structure, water bodies or soil composition. They can exhibit variations in temp, humidity, wind speed and precipitation compared to broader regional climates.
What five environmental factors determine optimum growing conditions
Temperature, Light, Water, Nutrients, Soil
What is frost? What portions of a plant is most susceptible to cold injury?
Formation of ice cyrstals on surfaces when temp drops below freezing. Water vapor in the air condenses directly into ice without first becoming liquid, this is known as deposition. Most susceptible are the root crown and lower stem, tender new growth.
What are the three characteristics of light that are important in plant growth and development?
Light Intensity, Duration (photoperiod) and Quality (Wavelength)
Which two areas of the visible light spectrum are absorbed by chlorophyll to drive photosynthesis?
Blue (400-500 nm) and Red (600-700) nm wavelengths.
What are the four reasons that water is essential to the plant?
Photosynthesis, Nutrient Transport, Turgor Pressure, Temperature Regulation
Why do weeping figs often drop their leaves when moved from an outdoor environment into an interior environment?
Changes in humidity, temperature, lighting, water etc.
What is photoperiodism? How does it affect certain plants? Give an example?
The response to plant to the relative length of day and night which influences their flowering and other physiological processes.
Why should a water treatment with a softener using sodium ions not be used for watering plants?
Sodium can disrupt osmotic balance within plant cells and interfere with the uptake of essential nutrients such as potassium and phosphorous.
What is meant by the term Field Capacity? What is meant by Permanent Wilting Point?
The max amount of water held by soil against gravity after excess water has drained away. Soil is well-watered and plant roots have access to available water for uptake. PWP is soil moisture level at which plants wilt and do not recover Soil retains water tightly making it unavailable for plant uptake.
Is Gravitational water available to the plant? Explain. Why may plants wilt in clay soil even though the percentage of water remaining is higher than that in loam when plants do not wilt?
Clay particles may bind to the water so tightly it doesn’t let the plant absorb them, depending on what is in the clay and the composition of soil.
Would long, slow watering be more effective in sand or loam soil?
Long slow watering is most effective in Loam soil where it sits on the surface and absorbs more slowly.
Where does the plant obtain carbon, hydrogen and water? What are the two main sources of other nutrients?
Obtains carbon, hydrogen and water from the air and soil. Carbon comes from Carbon Dioxide from the atmosphere, Hydrogen is obtained from water absorbed through the roots and Oxygen from the splitting of H2O and absorbed through the stomato on the leaves. Most other nutrients come from Decaying matter and minerals in the soil. Nitrogen can also be obtained from lightning.
How do plant nutrients enter the plant from the soil and what form must they be in?
Smalroot hairs increase surface area for nutrient absorption and facilitate the uptake of water and dissolved nutrients from the soil solution. Nutrients move through the dell walls through cytoplam of root cells.
What is the difference between a fertilizer and a nutrient?
Nutrients are the essential components a plant needs. Fertilizers are a substandce or mixtures applied to soil that contains nutrients.
