Mineral Nutrition in Plants

Mineral Salts:

The soil is the main source of mineral salts while the atmosphere is the source of gaseous elements such as carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen.

Mineral salts are required by plants for healthy growth. Some of these minerals are required in large quantities while others are required in small quantities.

(a) Macronutrients:

MacronutrientsMacronutrients are nutrients that a plant needs in relatively large amounts. Essential macronutrients are nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and sulfur (S). More are nutrients or mineral elements required by plants in large quantities for healthy growth and development. Examples are nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, calcium, sulphur, phosphorus, iron, etc.

(b) Micronutrients:

MicronutrientsMicronutrients are nutrients that plants need in only small or trace amounts. Boron (B), chlorine (Cl), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo), nickel (Ni), and zinc (Zn) areconsidered micronutrients.... More are nutrients required by plants in small quantities for their growth and development. They are also known as trace elements e.g. zinc, boron, molybdenum, copper, cobalt, manganese, and iron.

Culture Solution:

A culture solution is a solution containing all the major elements required by plants for their normal growth and development, examples of culture solutions usually prepared in the laboratory are:

Knop’s culture solution and Sach’s culture solution.

These solutions contain all the major elements needed for plant growth and are used for studying the effects of the deficiency of elements on the growth of plants.

Table Showing Mineral Requirements of Plants:

Note: Minor elements or micronutrients are mainly required for the activity of enzymes.