Plants and minerals
Plants need to take in a number of elements to stay alive.
The most important are:
•Carbon
•Hydrogen
•Oxygen
Plants get hydrogen and oxygen from water in the soil, and carbon and oxygen from carbon dioxide and oxygen in the atmosphere. 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 need a number of minerals for healthy growth. These are absorbed through the roots as mineral ions dissolved in the soil water.
Two important mineral ions needed by plants are:
Nitrate - for making amino acids, which are needed to make proteins
Magnesium - for making chlorophyll
If a plant does not get enough minerals, its growth will be poor. It will suffer from deficiency symptoms:
Deficient in nitrate - it will suffer from stunted growth
Deficient in magnesium - its leaves will turn yellow.
