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What makes plants grow?

What makes plants grow?  Several people have puzzled over this question.  There is no one single answer to this.  Several factors contribute:  Tropisms, environment, hormones, biological clocks, and even humans.  We are trying to determine the effects of music on plants.  It takes all these combined to have a plant that actually grows and a plant that is healthy and happy in its habitat.

Hormones

Hormones contribute greatly to the growth of plants.  Hormones such as auxins, gibberellins, cytokinins, and inhibitors make plants start growing through stimulation, have protein synthesis, maintain growth, and also inhibit plant growth, respectively.  Hormones, very simply, control the plants instincts to grow.

Auxins accumulate in certain parts of the plant, for example the

(1)

stems grow toward the light.  Auxins also make roots grow and make the veins in leaves grow.  Tropisms, which are discussed later, in conjunction with auxins, make the plant grow in the proper direction.

Gibberellins are the leaves and roots that form in the baby plant seed.  Gibberellins are also responsible for protein synthesis, which is the building of protein for basic life purposes.  Gibberellins are used commercially to promote flowering and fruit development because of their growth stimulation.

Cytokinins  are a group of natural plant chemicals found in endosperms, the nutritive tissue of embryonic seeds, and in the development of fruit. The cytokinin zeatin, in conjunction with auxins, stimulates cell division, particularly for shoot growth. Cytokinins also maintain cell growth, differentiation, and division.

Inhibitors are hormones that inhibit plant growth.  Some inhibitors make the plant leaves fall off in the Autumn.  Other inhibitors prevent the formation of buds in cold seasons.  Ethylene makes fruit ripen which inhibits certain plants from maturing fully.

The Environment

All plants need a fitting place to call home.  This place is called its environment.  Everyone knows that plants need suitable climate, water, and sunlight for photosynthesis in their environment.

In certain plants, shade is needed for proper growth but some light

(2)

is still needed.  The length of the periods of light a plant receives also affects its growth and flourishment.  Photosynthesis occurs using the suns energy to create the plants own energy.  Long-day plants blossom only during the long periods of sunlight.  Short-day plants bloom when the dark period is long.  There are other types called day-neutral which are not affected by the duration of light.

All plants need different amounts of water. Some plants need lots of water, like the and when they grow in the wild they grow in the tropical regions of the Earth where there is an abundance of rain water.  Plants like the Cacti grow only in the desert regions of the Earth where there is little rain.  The pathos ivy requires only a medium amount of water.

The other factor is the climate.  Again, the cacti needs a warm climate like the desert.  The evergreen plant like firs normally grow in the tiaga regions of the Earth.  The pathos ivy grows in temperate regions of the Earth.  Climate is an important factor when determining plant growth.

Tropisms

In botany the orientation or directed movement of plants in response to an external stimulus is called a tropism.  Tropisms are classified according to the nature of the stimulus:  a response to light is called phototropism; a response to gravity is called a gravitropism which used to be called a geotropism.

A phototropism is a response to light so there must be a pigment

(3)

present to absorb the light.  The effective light is normally from the blue region of the spectrum.  The significance of phototropism to the plant is  to assist in making the plant grow toward the light that it requires.

Growth movements in response to gravity are called gravitropism.  Roots are gravitropic, growing in the direction of the Earth’s gravitational field.  Primary roots are more positively gravitropic than secondary roots.  Shoots are negatively gravitropic, growing away from the gravitational field.

Gravitropisms are caused by different auxin concentrations, with more auxins collecting on the lower side of the shoots or roots.  How higher concentrations on the lower sides of both shoots and roots produce opposite effects are not clear.

Biological Clocks

Biological clocks, physiological systems that enables organisms to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature, trigger certain cells and hormones that are crucial in the growth and development if plants.  These clocks aren’t perfect though they are necessary to all plants.  Biological clocks help plants to maintain a steady and constant growth progression.

Biological clocks can exist in different parts of the cell in countless cells.  This means different parts of the plant can grow and blossom at different rates instead of at the same time.  For instance, a flowering plant, a sunflower, might grow to be very tall.  If its blossom grew at the

(4)

same rate it would be gargantuanly enormous.

When outside factors inter in to this equation things start to happen.  For example,  a flash of light signifies dawn for some plants like the morning glory.  This makes the flower blossom.  The problem is that any flash of light might trigger this, possibly a headlight or a strand of Christmas lights.  If this happens the flower could be injured.

Humans

Humans have affected plants in very good ways.  We have affected plants by breeding them as food sources.  Human intervention isnt necessarily a good thing.  It can affect plants in certain ways that aren’t beneficial to the plant.

Take wheat for example early humans cultivated it for food sources.  They didnt know what they did but they domesticated the first plants.  There was plenty of food for all humans and then some.  This created a running food source for later humans.

The human relationship to plants is now almost reversed.  Human intervention is still helpful and beneficial.  The problem is there is a much greater demand for food and so humans have been forced to use fertilizers and other possibly harmful product on plants.  Some plants are now dependent on certain fertilizers to sustain proper growth.  Humans are not helping plants as much as we are hindering them.

(5)

Music

Does music affect plant growth?  That is what our experimental design is supposed to do (see p 8).  We know music affects humans in different ways.  Even certain types of music evoke different actions.

Ever noticed that at Kroger the music is always 60s and 70s hits.  This triggers the Kroger target buyers, 30-60 year old persons, memories and makes them slow down to enjoy the  music.  This in turn makes the shopper walk slower and purchase more.

When two people that are the same age, sex, weight, ect. and they listen to different music they are act differently.  It is known that people who listens to violent music and people that listen to violin music are normally different.  The violent person acts more hostile that the others.  This isnt always true but its the way it normally occurs.

We are trying to determine is music has any effect on the growth of plants.  We think that from past research on humans that music will have an affect on plants as well.  We are not sure what effect that will be however.

What makes plants grow?  Hopefully this is understood a little bit better now.  Although there is no one single answer to this question,  There are several factors that contribute:  Tropisms, environment,

(6)

hormones, biological clocks, and even humans.  We are trying to determine

the effects of music on plants in our experiment (see p 8).  Plants take lots of things to make them grow and now you know just a few of the many factors contributing.

What makes plants grow?  Several people have puzzled over this question.  There is no one single answer to this.  Several factors contribute:  Tropisms, environment, hormones, biological clocks, and even humans.  We are trying to determine the effects of music on plants.  It takes all these combined to have a plant that actually grows and a plant that is healthy and happy in its habitat.

Hormones

Hormones contribute greatly to the growth of plants.  Hormones such as auxins, gibberellins, cytokinins, and inhibitors make plants start growing through stimulation, have protein synthesis, maintain growth, and also inhibit plant growth, respectively.  Hormones, very simply, control the plants instincts to grow.

Auxins accumulate in certain parts of the plant, for example the

(1)

stems grow toward the light.  Auxins also make roots grow and make the veins in leaves grow.  Tropisms, which are discussed later, in conjunction with auxins, make the plant grow in the proper direction.

Gibberellins are the leaves and roots that form in the baby plant seed.  Gibberellins are also responsible for protein synthesis, which is the building of protein for basic life purposes.  Gibberellins are used commercially to promote flowering and fruit development because of their growth stimulation.

Cytokinins  are a group of natural plant chemicals found in endosperms, the nutritive tissue of embryonic seeds, and in the development of fruit. The cytokinin zeatin, in conjunction with auxins, stimulates cell division, particularly for shoot growth. Cytokinins also maintain cell growth, differentiation, and division.

Inhibitors are hormones that inhibit plant growth.  Some inhibitors make the plant leaves fall off in the Autumn.  Other inhibitors prevent the formation of buds in cold seasons.  Ethylene makes fruit ripen which inhibits certain plants from maturing fully.

The Environment

All plants need a fitting place to call home.  This place is called its environment.  Everyone knows that plants need suitable climate, water, and sunlight for photosynthesis in their environment.

In certain plants, shade is needed for proper growth but some light

(2)

is still needed.  The length of the periods of light a plant receives also affects its growth and flourishment.  Photosynthesis occurs using the suns energy to create the plants own energy.  Long-day plants blossom only during the long periods of sunlight.  Short-day plants bloom when the dark period is long.  There are other types called day-neutral which are not affected by the duration of light.

All plants need different amounts of water. Some plants need lots of water, like the and when they grow in the wild they grow in the tropical regions of the Earth where there is an abundance of rain water.  Plants like the Cacti grow only in the desert regions of the Earth where there is little rain.  The pathos ivy requires only a medium amount of water.

The other factor is the climate.  Again, the cacti needs a warm climate like the desert.  The evergreen plant like firs normally grow in the tiaga regions of the Earth.  The pathos ivy grows in temperate regions of the Earth.  Climate is an important factor when determining plant growth.

Tropisms

In botany the orientation or directed movement of plants in response to an external stimulus is called a tropism.  Tropisms are classified according to the nature of the stimulus:  a response to light is called phototropism; a response to gravity is called a gravitropism which used to be called a geotropism.

A phototropism is a response to light so there must be a pigment

(3)

present to absorb the light.  The effective light is normally from the blue region of the spectrum.  The significance of phototropism to the plant is  to assist in making the plant grow toward the light that it requires.

Growth movements in response to gravity are called gravitropism.  Roots are gravitropic, growing in the direction of the Earth’s gravitational field.  Primary roots are more positively gravitropic than secondary roots.  Shoots are negatively gravitropic, growing away from the gravitational field.

Gravitropisms are caused by different auxin concentrations, with more auxins collecting on the lower side of the shoots or roots.  How higher concentrations on the lower sides of both shoots and roots produce opposite effects are not clear.

Biological Clocks

Biological clocks, physiological systems that enables organisms to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature, trigger certain cells and hormones that are crucial in the growth and development if plants.  These clocks aren’t perfect though they are necessary to all plants.  Biological clocks help plants to maintain a steady and constant growth progression.

Biological clocks can exist in different parts of the cell in countless cells.  This means different parts of the plant can grow and blossom at different rates instead of at the same time.  For instance, a flowering plant, a sunflower, might grow to be very tall.  If its blossom grew at the

(4)

same rate it would be gargantuanly enormous.

When outside factors inter in to this equation things start to happen.  For example,  a flash of light signifies dawn for some plants like the morning glory.  This makes the flower blossom.  The problem is that any flash of light might trigger this, possibly a headlight or a strand of Christmas lights.  If this happens the flower could be injured.

Humans

Humans have affected plants in very good ways.  We have affected plants by breeding them as food sources.  Human intervention isnt necessarily a good thing.  It can affect plants in certain ways that aren’t beneficial to the plant.

Take wheat for example early humans cultivated it for food sources.  They didnt know what they did but they domesticated the first plants.  There was plenty of food for all humans and then some.  This created a running food source for later humans.

The human relationship to plants is now almost reversed.  Human intervention is still helpful and beneficial.  The problem is there is a much greater demand for food and so humans have been forced to use fertilizers and other possibly harmful product on plants.  Some plants are now dependent on certain fertilizers to sustain proper growth.  Humans are not helping plants as much as we are hindering them.

(5)

Music

Does music affect plant growth?  That is what our experimental design is supposed to do (see p 8).  We know music affects humans in different ways.  Even certain types of music evoke different actions.

Ever noticed that at Kroger the music is always 60s and 70s hits.  This triggers the Kroger target buyers, 30-60 year old persons, memories and makes them slow down to enjoy the  music.  This in turn makes the shopper walk slower and purchase more.

When two people that are the same age, sex, weight, ect. and they listen to different music they are act differently.  It is known that people who listens to violent music and people that listen to violin music are normally different.  The violent person acts more hostile that the others.  This isnt always true but its the way it normally occurs.

We are trying to determine is music has any effect on the growth of plants.  We think that from past research on humans that music will have an affect on plants as well.  We are not sure what effect that will be however.

What makes plants grow?  Hopefully this is understood a little bit better now.  Although there is no one single answer to this question,  There are several factors that contribute:  Tropisms, environment,

(6)

hormones, biological clocks, and even humans.  We are trying to determine

the effects of music on plants in our experiment (see p 8).  Plants take lots of things to make them grow and now you know just a few of the many factors contributing.

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