Plant nutrition plants obtain sunlight and usable chemical elements from the environment.

1. Plant nutrition plants obtain sunlight and usable chemical elements from the environment.

2. Four factors are necessary for plant growth • There are thirteen different minerals that plants require for proper survival and growth. • Six of these essential nutrients are required in large amounts. These are: nitrogen, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, sulfur, calcium.

3. Hydroponically Grown Plants

4. Healthy control N-Deficiency K-Deficiency P-Deficiency Without enough nutrients, plants are stunted, spotted, or otherwise abnormal

5. Nutrients and typical lawn fertilizers:Follow “N-P-K” rating

6. Mycorrhizae • Fungi living around and within the roots increase absorptive surface area. • In exchange for providing increased vitamins and minerals to the plant, the fungus receives sugars, amino acids, and vitamins in return.

7. NitrogenFixation • Nitrogen gas in the air must be converted to nitrate or ammonium in soil by bacteria for it to be used by plants. • This is called nitrogen fixation.

8. How do bacteria and plants form this mutualistic alliance?

9. Some Plants Have Alternative Ways of Obtaining Nitrogen • These plants ingest animals, such as insects, to obtain nitrogen they do not get in the soil, and are called carnivorous (insectivorous) plants. • One example is the Venus flytrap.

10. How is water moved through a plant? In the cohesion-tension mechanism, the plant does not need to expend any energy to pump water and minerals up from the roots to the leaves.

11. Sugar Movement Through the Plant is by pressure flow (bulk flow) • Sugar is produced in the leaves (the “source”) and transported to places (“sinks”) where sugars are needed.

12. Organisms Besides the Plant Benefit from the Sugary Phloem Aphids pierce the plant stem to gain access to the sugary phloem.