Windevoid Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 I just watched this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nc0U9PawusY Do Plants Really Take Things From the Environment in Order to Grow? Or can they make their own stuff (not just photosynthesis). Can a plant grow in a sealed container with no air and nutrients, just a little water to signal the plant to grow? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdEarl Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 A seed contains enough nutrients for a seedling to grow, given some water. But, it cannot continue to grow for long. Try it. Put a seed in a sealed bottle, suck the air out, if you can, and add a few drops of water. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swansont Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 A one-hour video? No thank you. Yes, plants take stuff from the environment. Plants come from the air. They take in CO2 and give off O2, keeping the C, via photosynthesis. (it need energy to remove the Carbon) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Cuthber Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 The other thing they take a lot of is water, but they also get other nutrients from the soil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swansont Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 True. I was thinking about Feynman's explanation, "trees come out of the air" but his emphasis is on the dry mass that you eventually burn, and ignores the water content while they're alive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Essay Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 (edited) The other thing they take a lot of is water, but they also get other nutrients from the soil. They get lots of nitrogen from the soil, and critical phosphorus, as well as other important nutrients and micronutrients. In nature, plants exude up to 40% of their fixed carbon into the soil (through their roots), which feeds the microbes that "fix" the nutrients and return them to the plant, in plant-available forms. [1] ...or fertilizers can replace that process, and the root exudates tend to be shunted into faster growth. This affects micronutrient metabolism, as well as the plant's micro-RNA profile [2] (which can affect our immune system). [3] [4] ~ [1] The Rhizosphere, by Cardon & Whitbeck, 2007 [2] Scientific American, "Food We Eat Might Control Our Genes," Dec., 2011 [3] Journal of Lipid Research, "A big role for small RNAs in HDL homeostasis," May, 2013 [4] Search: {HDL/LDL proteins immune response} (...or HDL/LDL proteins & inflammation ...or HDL/LDL proteins & innate immune) Edited July 7, 2013 by Essay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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