Importance of minerals and water

• Plants need water for photosynthesis- they combine carbon dioxide and water to make glucose and oxygen, using energy from light
• Plant need water for support - non-woody plants rely on the pressure that builds up as water moves into vacuoles of the cells by osmosis. This forces the cytoplasm against the cell walls, making the cells rigid and stops the plants from wilting
• Plants need water transport - minerals ions are carried around the plant in the xylem which is powered by transpiration as water evaporates from the surfaces of cells in leaves and diffuses out into the air. Sugars are carried around the plant in the phloem where they are distributed in the water and moved by active transport
• Plants extract minerals from the soil
• Nitrate ions are used to make amino acids and therefore proteins. These proteins include plant enzymes and hormones. When plants lack nitrates, the leaves turn yellow and die, and growth is stunted. Eventually, the plant dies
• Calcium ions in the middle lamella of the plant cells combine with pectin to make calcium pectate which holds plant cells together. Calcium ions are also important in the permeability of membranes. When plants lack calcium, the growing plants die and the young leaves are yellow and crinkly
• Magnesium ions are needed to produce chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is vital to trap light for photosynthesis, so if a plant cannot make chlorophyll it will eventually die. Magnesium is also needed for the activation of some plant enzymes and the synthesis of nucleic acid. Without magnesium, yellow areas develop on the older leaves and growths slows down.
• The plant on the left that lacks nitrogen.

  
• Plant with a magnesium deficiency

  
• Plant that lacks calcium