FROM WHERE DO THE PLANTS GET MINERAL NUTRIENTS?
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It is through the roots that the components of the soil are made available and useful to plants.
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These components of the soil are necessary for growth and reproduction and therefore they are termed as 'essential elements'.
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The essential elements most commonly used and added to the soil in the form of fertilizer are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
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Besides these essential elements, plants use inorganic minerals for nutrition, whether grown in the field or in a container.
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Complex interactions involving weathering of rock minerals, decaying organic matter, animals, and microbes take place to form inorganic minerals in the soil.
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Roots absorb mineral nutrients as ions in soil water.
