Bulbs
Flower Basics
Flower Beds & Specialty Gardens
Flower Garden
Garden Furniture
Garden Gnomes
Garden Seeds
Garden Sheds
Garden Statues
Garden Tools & Supplies
Gardening Basics
Green & Organic
Groundcovers & Vines
Growing Annuals
Growing Basil
Growing Beans
Growing Berries
Growing Blueberries
Growing Cactus
Growing Corn
Growing Cotton
Growing Edibles
Growing Flowers
Growing Garlic
Growing Grapes
Growing Grass
Growing Herbs
Growing Jasmine
Growing Mint
Growing Mushrooms
Orchids
Growing Peanuts
Growing Perennials
Growing Plants
Growing Rosemary
Growing Roses
Growing Strawberries
Growing Sunflowers
Growing Thyme
Growing Tomatoes
Growing Tulips
Growing Vegetables
Herb Basics
Herb Garden
Indoor Growing
Landscaping Basics
Landscaping Patios
Landscaping Plants
Landscaping Shrubs
Landscaping Trees
Landscaping Walks & Pathways
Lawn Basics
Lawn Maintenance
Lawn Mowers
Lawn Ornaments
Lawn Planting
Lawn Tools
Outdoor Growing
Overall Landscape Planning
Pests, Weeds & Problems
Plant Basics
Rock Garden
Rose Garden
Shrubs
Soil
Specialty Gardens
Trees
Vegetable Garden
Yard Maintenance
How Do Plants Obtain Water?
How Do Plants Obtain Water?. Like all living things, plants need water to survive. Plants use water to maintain their shape, obtain energy through photosynthesis, collect dissolved nutrients from the soil, transfer small molecules throughout the plant, and cool off leaves in hot weather through evaporation. Because they need so much water, plants...
Need for Water
Like all living things, plants need water to survive. Plants use water to maintain their shape, obtain energy through photosynthesis, collect dissolved nutrients from the soil, transfer small molecules throughout the plant, and cool off leaves in hot weather through evaporation. Because they need so much water, plants must have an efficient system to collect it.
Roots
Plants obtain water through the soil. The roots are the transportation system to get the water from the soil and to the parts of the plant where it is needed. The roots branch off into smaller and smaller roots, and the smallest roots are called root hairs. These root hairs absorb the water into the root system, which then transports the water to the rest of the plant.
Osmosis
Osmosis is the process by which the water is absorbed into the root system and also how it moves through the plant. If the roots are the transportation system, then osmosis is the transport. In simpler terms, the roots are like a highway,and osmosis is like a truck that carries the water over the highway. Plant cells have semi-permeable membranes which allow water through, but the water will only move through when the pressure on the other side of the membrane is less than the first side. The equalizing of this pressure is called osmosis.
