Love Thy Plants

Plant nutrients can be categorised into macronutrients and micronutrients, based on the amounts needed for plant growth. Macronutrients are needed in relatively large amounts, 1–20 milligrams (mg) per gram of a plant’s fresh weight. Micronutrients are needed at the much smaller microgram (µg) scale.

The main plant macronutrients are nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), sulphur (S), magnesium (Mg), and calcium (Ca).

Key micronutrients are chlorine, iron (Fe), boron (B), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), molybdenum (Mo) and nickel (Ni).

Plants constantly take up nutrients from their surroundings. In vascular plants, nutrients are mostly taken up through the root system. The shape of the root system often reflects the nutrient resources of a plant.

For example, if a plant is lacking a certain nutrient that is often found in the deeper layers of soil, it may extend its root system deeper. Plants adapt to know where nutrients are and use their roots to catch these scarce nutrients.

Just as anglers use specialised hooks for catching different types of fish, so plants use specialised transport proteins to take up different nutrients.

Transport proteins include channels, pumps and transporters. Each one uses a different strategy to recognise, capture and deliver specific elements. Plants can also change the amount of transport proteins they have to control nutrient uptake.

For example, if a plant becomes deficient in, say, magnesium, it might increase its number of magnesium transport proteins to try and increase magnesium uptake.

Leaves are a plant’s solar panels. They convert sunlight into chemical energy via photosynthesis.

While the equation for photosynthesis (6CO2 + 6H2O → C6H12O6 + 6O2) suggests only Carbon, Oxygen and Hydrogen are relevant, many other elements play a vital role.

Examples include, Nitrogen and Magnesium, which form the porphyrin ring in chlorophyll, and Iron, which is vital for the biosynthesis of chlorophyll.

Without access to these important elements, the plant will not be able to create chlorophyll. The soil of a potted house plant will have a finite amount of these elements, which will steadily deplete. This is why weekly feeding with the Elixir is so important.

The pace of your house plant's growth is affected by many factors. A crucial one is the availability of nutrients in the plant’s soil.

Without the availability of the right nutrients in the right amounts, the ability of the plant to create proteins, organs and organ systems will be severely compromised.

For example, Sulphur is used to make the amino acids methionine and cysteine, which in turn form strong disulphide bonds to stabilise protein structures. These protein structures play a vital role within a plant's metabolic system.

Furthermore, an element like Boron is used by your house plant to form cross-links between individual strands of pectin in a plant's cell walls, thus forming strong, water-tight cell walls. The growth of new foliage relies on healthy cell walls.