Plant Nutrition

The plants use the inorganic minerals that are available in the soil for its survival. The inorganic substances are formed due to the interactions among the minerals in the rocks, microbes, animals and decaying organic matter. The plants absorb the mineral nutrients from the soil in the form of ions through the roots. The uptake of mineral nutrients by the plants is regulated by several factors. The ions are available to the plant along with other elements or present attached to the soil particles. The mineral nutrients will not be available to the plants easily if the soil pH is too acidic or too alkaline. The soil is said to be fertile if it has enough nutrients to feed the plant in required quantities for the plant survival. The minerals are absorbed and assimilated by the plant for the growth and development of tissue. The growth and development of plant with the nutrients is termed as nutrition. If the soil is found to be deficient from any element, they are supplemented with the help of certain fertilizers.

The essential mineral elements are those which cannot be replaced by any other element in the plant, when the plant is not able to complete its life cycle without the element and if the mineral is directly participating in the metabolism of the plants. The beneficial elements are those minerals, which can replace the toxic results of the elements or replace any elements in their less specific function. The plants grown without the beneficial elements in the soil will not be able to attain maximum genetic potential. These plants grow at the subsistence levels.

There are nearly twenty elements that are necessary for plant growth. The atmosphere will provide carbon, oxygen and hydrogen. The macronutrients that are required by the plants in large amounts are nitrogen, phophorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium and sulfur. The trace elements that are required by the plants in small quantities are chlorine, copper, boron, manganese, zinc, iron, sodium, nickel and molybdenum. The silicon and cobalt are considered as beneficial elements.