Mineral Requirements of Plants

With the worlds population growing constantly quicker and more reliable ways to produce foods need to be made. Through hydroponics more plants and crops can be created in a shorter amount of time. “Hydroponics is an excellent method of conducting research with controlled conditions of nutrient availability.” The problem is that if the exact amount of minerals are not used the produce may have negative side effects or unwanted results. Through the research of hydroponics the less fortunate can produce their own crop while saving resources. A hydroponics garden may use only a fraction of the water a soil garden requires because no water is wasted or consumed by weeds. Hydroponics plants are also proven to have a greater nutritional value and crops grown on a field. With the study of hydroponics and how plants required certain amount of mineral they can be manipulated to yield a higher quality and quantity produce.

The use of hydroponics have been as early as the seventeenth century in England and France where mint plants were grown with out the use of soil. A few hundred years later the nutrients of the plants was the focus in the hydroponics research where German scientist began to create a nutrient solution. The perfection of the nutrition solution thing for a given plant or crop was based in the United States where many test were taken place to perfect the formula for a give n crop. These formulas have been tested from the first in the nineteen fifties till the present and more procedures are taking place to find the balance of minerals for a certain crop.

Crops grown by hydroponics cannot grow healthy with out the necessary minerals and nutrients. The three non mineral nutrients for plant growth are carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. These nutrients are uncontrollable unless grown in a closed area or with artificial settings. There are thirteen other minerals which can be separated into two group’s micronutrients and macronutrients. Macronutrients can then be broken down in to two more sub groups primary nutrients and secondary nutrients.

The primary nutrients include nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium while the secondary nutrients are calcium, magnesium, and sulphur. Each macronutrient plays an important role such as Phosphorus which aids to the process of photosynthesis, aids growth and also encourages root growth and blooming. Potassium helps with the quality of the produces and also reduces the chance of disease for these reasons potassium is absorbed in larger amounts. Calcium provides normal transportation and also helps with cell wall structure and overall plant strength. Magnesium is also an important mineral which aids with photosynthesis and growth. Sulphur plays many active roles of a healthy plant such as production of protein, promoting the development of enzymes and vitamins, chlorophyll formation, seed production and growth, and resistance to cold temperature.

Micronutrients