What Does a Plant Need to Grow?

A garden requires patient labor and attention. Plants do not grow merely to satisfy ambitions or to fulfill good intentions. They thrive because someone expended effort on them. ~ Liberty Hyde Bailey

Indeed, your job's far from over once you've planted the seeds or saplings and have watered them. A garden is like an ever-growing infant which remains an infant despite flowering and blooming as it needs your constant attention and care to thrive the way you want it to. We all know that soil, water and sunlight are the three most essential ingredients that make saplings come out of seeds and make the seeds grow into plants and trees. However, if you plan to have a garden or grow plants in pots, you need to know about all those things that a plant needs, besides soil, water and sunlight, to grow healthy and look well-cared for. So, what makes plants grow? Well, I'm coming to that.

What Does a Plant Need to Grow and Survive?

While we all know that plants need three essential things - water, soil and sunlight - to survive and grow well, do you know exactly how these three factors nourish plants and equip them with enough nutrients to grow healthy? No? Well, certain chemical elements such as nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon dioxide are used by plants to produce nourishment for itself. Water dissolves these nutrients from the soil and this water is absorbed by the roots through the process of osmosis and sent upwards through a mechanism known as transpiration pull which is characterized by the reverse-gravitational direction in which the water travels upwards, away from the root and soil.

Once the nutrition, is carried to the leaves, the chlorophyll present in the leaves of green plants lock in sunlight and use it to combine carbon dioxide and water to produce sugar and oxygen. While the sugar becomes the food or nutrition source of the green plant, the oxygen is exhaled. This sugar is then converted into starch, fats and proteins which go ahead to feed the plant and make it healthy. Besides nutrient-rich soil, sufficient water and sunlight, plants also need enough air for better growth. A well-aired soil prevents roots from decaying and equips them for better absorption of water dissolved minerals.

What Nutrients Does a Plant Need to Grow?

Besides, carbon dioxide, the other primary nutrients that greatly benefit the plant growth process are nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. Nitrogen in its solid, water-soluble form is an extremely essential ingredient in plant nutrition which helps the plant to grow leaves and fruits. In absence of sufficient nitrogen, the plant is unable to perform photosynthesis properly which makes the leaves go yellow and the plant becomes weak. On the other hand, if there is an excess of nitrogen, the foliage tends to become denser but flowers and fruits diminish in numbers and size. Phosphorus plays a key role in photosynthesis and transfer of nutrition and energy throughout the plant system. It is also responsible for maintaining the right cellular structure of plants. Due to this reason, a deficit of phosphorus results in stunted plant growth, lowers the production of fruits and flowers and causes leaves to wilt.

Another important nutritional element for plant growth is potassium. It especially benefits the growth of plants with sturdy stalks and shoots such as shrubs and trees as the chief function of potassium is to strengthen the roots and stems. This encourages the growth of flowers and the overall health of plants. Potassium also regulates the function of the stomata which are the plant cells that use up water absorbed by the roots. While nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are the primary nutrients required for plant growth, there are certain secondary and micro nutrients that also benefit the health of plants in various ways. These are:-

Secondary Nutrients

• Sulfur
• Calcium
• Magnesium

Micro Nutrients

• Copper
• Iron
• Boron
• Manganese
• Chloride
• Zinc
• Molybdenum

Besides these nutritional factors, temperature and atmospheric humidity levels also affect the growth of plants and different plants have different requirements in these matters. The basic plant growth factors such as well-aired soil, water, carbon dioxide and sunlight are common for growth of all plants, so are the 3 primary nutrients. The proportion and requirement of the secondary and micro nutrients may vary in different species of plants.