What is needed to help plants grow?
Click on the + to see what the basic needs of plants are.
Air
Water
Plants need air to grow, just like you need air to breathe!
There's a special gas in the air called carbon dioxide (you can just call it CO2). Plants breathe in this CO2 through tiny holes in their leaves, kind of like little mouths all over the leaf!
And here's the best part - when plants make their food this way, they breathe out oxygen, which is the air that YOU need to breathe! So plants help you, and you help plants. It's like you're a team!
Without air, plants couldn't make their food and would get hungry and not be able to grow big and strong.
Plants need water to grow, kind of like how you need water to drink!
Plants suck up water through their roots (the parts underground), kind of like drinking through a straw! The water travels up through the stem and goes all the way to the leaves
On hot days, plants let a little bit of water escape through those tiny holes in their leaves. This helps cool the plant down, kind of like how you feel cooler when you sweat.
Sunlight
Plants need sunlight to grow - it's like their power source, kind of like how a toy needs batteries!
Plants can't go to the store or eat food like you do. Instead, they USE sunlight like energy to make their own food. It's like the sun is a giant battery that powers the plant's food-making machine!
When plants get enough sunlight, they can make lots of food, which gives them energy to grow taller, make more leaves, grow flowers, and even make fruits or vegetables.
Have you ever noticed that plants lean toward windows? That's because they're reaching for the light! Plants are smart - they know they need sunlight, so they grow toward it.
Here's what soil does for plants:
It holds the plant in place. The roots grow down into the soil and grab onto it, kind of like how your feet help you stand up. Without soil to hold onto, the plant would just fall over!
It gives them food. Soil has tiny bits of nutrients in it (like vitamins for plants). The roots suck up these nutrients along with water. It's like the soil is a big plate of food that the plant can eat from whenever it's hungry.
It holds water for the plant. When you water a plant, the soil is like a sponge - it soaks up the water and keeps it there so the roots can drink it later. If there was no soil, the water would just run away!
It gives the roots air too. Good soil has little spaces between the dirt particles where air can get in. Remember, roots need to breathe a little bit too!
Without good soil, plants would have nowhere to live, nothing to hold onto, and no place to get the extra nutrients they need to grow big and healthy!.