The basics of understanding any topic is at its roots. In order to properly grow plants and give them the nutrients they need. We first need to understand how exactly plants grow and the life cycle that they go through in order to reach adulthood and produce fruits and vegetables. Plants are actually a quite a different type of living organisms animals are and their requirements are a little strange. They need different things to grow and the way they reproduce is quite interesting in comparison to the rest of the planet. This article will teach you all about the life cycle of plants and what they use to grow from seedlings to adults.

The Beginning

seed growingEvery plant starts as a seedling of course. Generally, in the wild, plants release seedlings that through natural events work themselves into the ground. They also may end up traveling using animals as their career through various means to spread. Seeds will hibernate until they feel that the ground is warm enough to start growing. Once a seedling feels that it is an appropriate temperature to safely grow, it will start to bud and produce leaves. Plants, like many things, start out very tiny and it may even be hard to tell if your plants growing. When raising a plant, you should be able to see seedlings grow within a week to two weeks.

As a seed starts to grow it’s going to need to absorb more and more nutrients. Plants unlike like animals absorb nutrients through their roots. This means that if they’re put into soil that isn’t rich in nutrients then the growth of the plant will be poor if it happens at all. In order for a seedling to even begin to reach adulthood, it needs to be grown in rich soil that constantly gets replenished with nutrients naturally. Even some of the best soil can become barren if plants absorb what makes it rich in the first place and no matter decomposes around it.

After a seedling has sprouted, you can see it beginning to grow above ground. Just know that a lot of growth is going on below ground as well. Try not to dig around it as this can damage the roots that are absorbing the things that it needs to grow on. While the roots absorb the nutrients and water from the soil, the above-ground part of the plant is absorbing carbon dioxide and sunlight. These two things are what helps the plants make food for themselves. This process is of course famously known as photosynthesis which is talked about in almost every classroom in America.

Becoming an Adult

As a plant nears adulthood, it will begin to grow flowers. What some people may not know though is that flowers, fruits, and vegetables are actually the sex organs of plants. This means that the things we eat and fawn over are actually the way flowers reproduce. If you have ever eaten a vegetable or fruit, then you have probably noticed that there are seeds in them. Some people even pick the seeds out of various products because they’re annoying to ingest. What you need to realize is that every seed you pick or eat is actually a living organism that can be grown into a full-fledged plant.

This is also the reason that fruits and vegetables are so full and nutrients. Flowers pack nutrients around there seeds in order to help them grow into a healthy plant in the future. This is also why you won’t find a single fruit or vegetable that isn’t juicy. The juice in fruits and vegetables is actually the water supply that these seeds would use to grow in the soil. When you do you think about fruits and vegetables, it’s pretty amazing how they are put together in order to grow into a new life. A single strawberry can even have dozens of plants grow from it in the right environment. All you need is a good water source and a little bit of sunlight to see a field of flowers or vegetable start off to pop up out of nowhere.

Now, this, of course, doesn’t mean that we can just throw out a strawberry and it’s going to grow perfectly in our garden. There are a lot of external factors that always will go into a plant growing. Much of the produce that we buy in the grocery store is actually imported from other areas where that produce grows the best. At the very least, it’s probably grown in a greenhouse that is specifically designed for having the ideal growing conditions for that plant. That means that you don’t have a high chance of being able to grow everything naturally in your yard.

The Last Stage

gown plantsAfter all, is said and done, your plant will wither away and returning nutrients to the soil. Plants do this at the end of the season after they have finished reproducing. By doing this they are helping to ensure that their seedlings will have a better chance to grow up healthy by enriching the soil around them. Some plants will do this but their roots will survive on throughout the year. In these cases, the plants can revive themselves when it gets warmer and uses the returned nutrients to help them as well as their seedlings grow when the weather turns warm again.

Now, keep in mind bigger plants like trees, of course, have a different growth cycle. Instead of just dying when it gets cold they will lose their leaves and go into a sort of hibernation until it’s warm enough to produce offspring again. When caring for trees you’re going to want to use different logic than you do with flowers. Generally, all you are going to have to do is remove the fruit and plant the tree in a place where you know there aren’t any other roots that will overtake it as it grows. Trees generally rely on animals to spread their seedlings after they consume and digest the fruit. it’s going to be more up to you to find a nutritious spot to grow a new tree than with other plants. This also is why you see so few fruit trees compared to other plants grow so close together in the wild.