More In Depth to Germination

Germination requires multiple factors including: water/imbition, oxygen, temperature, sunlight, soil, the dormancy period, and the viability period.

Water/Imbition: Water allows the outer shell of the seed to soften and break for the seed to root and grow. Imbition occurs when the extremely dry mature seed and takes in significant amounts of water.

Oxygen: Required for metabolism by the germinating seed. Oxygen is utilized in aerobic respiration. This is the main source of the seedling's energy until it grows leaves.

Temperature: If it is too hot, the seed will whither. If it is too cold, the seed will freeze.

Sunlight: The amount of sunlight necessary for germination depends on the seed.

Soil: The pH of the soil helps soften the shell of the seed. This allows the root to grow. 

Dormancy Period: The seed rests and may refuse to germinate properly. This is required and the time varies depending on the seed.

Viability Period: This is the readiness after the dormancy period. The seed can eventually expire. After this, the seed will not germinate. 

The Final Chapter (Characteristics)

Kaylinn, Tyson, Troy, and Tod have grown successfully. They have completed germination and development. They will need a bigger abode to grow further. The plastic cups do not give them optimal space for growth and development. 

The Triplets: Tyson, Troy, and Tod (corn plants) (monocots)

The characteristics the triplets possess are:

-flowering plant with one cotyledon or seed-leaf in the embryo

-the epicotyl is the first shoot to emerge

-radicle aborts and new roots arise

-have parallel leaf vine pattern

-vascular tissue scattered

-no main root

-pollen grain with one opening

-floral organs usually in groups of three

Kaylinn (carrot plant) (dicot) 

The characteristics Kaylinn possesses are: 

-two seed leaves

-roots grow from the radical and apical meristem

-have netlike vein patterns

-vascular tissue usually arranged in rings

-taproot is present

-pollen grain has three openings

-floral organs in groups of four or five

Ready to Move on in Life: Reproduction (Extra Credit)

Today is April 15th and it is time to accept the fact that my babies are grown up. Reproduction is a six-step process. It goes as follows:

-the pollen lands on the stigma

-the pollen tube grows into the ovary

-the egg is fertilized

-the seed forms after fertilization

-when the seed is ready, it is spreaded 

-the seed lands in soil and begins to germinate, starting the process over

The structures involved and their functions are as follows:

Stamen: The pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower, consisting of an anther and filament. 

Filament: The stalk portion of the stamen.

Anther: The terminal pollen sac of a stamen, where pollen grains containing sperm-producing male gametophytes.

Carpel: The ovule-producing reproductive organ of a flower, consisting of the stigma, style, and ovary.

Stigma: The sticky part of a flower's carpel, which receives pollen grains.

Style: The stalk of a flower's carpel, with the ovary at the base and the stigma at the top.

Ovary: The portion of a carpel in which the egg-containing ovules develop. 

Petals: A modified leaf of a flowering plant. The petals are colorful to attract insects. 

Sepals: A modified leaf that helps enclose and protect a flower bud before it opens.

Pollen: The fertilizing element of flowering plants. (Yellowish grains/spores)

Ovule: A structure that develops within the ovary of a seed plant that contains the female gametophytes.

Double fertilization is when two sperms cells unite in the angiosperm with two cells in the female gametophyte to form the zygote and endosperm. 

Round and Round it Goes: Life Cycle of a Plant

Gametophyte: The multiple cellular haploid form that produces haploid gametes by mitosis. These gametes unite and develop in sporophytes.

Sporophyte: The multicellular diploid form that results from the union of gametes. It helps produce haploid spores by meiosis that develop into gametes. 

The life cycle of a plant: it begins when the gametophyte produces haploid gametes by mitosis. Then, two gametes unite to form a diploid zygote by fertilization. The zygote develops into a multicellular diploid sporophyte which then produces haploid spores through meiosis. The spores develop into multicellular haploid gametophytes. This is how land plants undergo sexual reproduction. 

Yum, Nutrients!

Today is April 1st, and my babies are growing strong. I water them when their soil is dry and I give them sunlight daily. Roots are necessary for the transfer of nutrients and water. 

The roots of the corn have grown so long they have wrapped around the bottom of their abode! It is more difficult to see the roots of the carrots though. I have decided to name my babies now that they are flourishing. My carrot plant's name is Kaylinn. The three corn plants are triplets and are named: Tod, Troy, and Tyson. For the four plants to gain nutrients, they must utilize their roots and various other structures. Vascular tissue, xylem, stomata, guard cells, transpiration, turgor pressure, soil, and the the casparian strip. The structures' functions are as follows:

Vascular Tissue: This is plant tissue consisting of cells joined into tubes that transport water and nutrients throughout the plant body.

Xylem: Vascular plant tissue that consists mainly of tubular dead cells that conduct most of the water and minerals upward from the roots to the rest of the plant.

Stomata: Tiny openings in the epidermis of the plant. Gases and water vapor pass through these tiny openings. These structures permit the absorption of carbon dioxide and the realease of oxygen gas. 

Guard Cells: Two cells that flank the stomatal pore and regulate the opening and closing of the pore.

Transpiration: The process of water flowing from the roots through the stem of the plant and out of the plant, evaporating.

Turgor Pressure: The force directed against a plant cell wall after the influx of water and the swelling of the cell due to osmosis. 

Soil's Contribution to Plant Growth: Soil contributes by nutrients, the pH balance, water, and anchoring. The pH balance germinates the seed. The soil absorbs and provides nutrients and water. The soil also anchors the plant so it can grow and develop successfully. 

Casparian Strip: A water impermeable ring of wax in the endodermal cells of plants that blocks the passive flow of water and solutes into the stele by the way of cell walls. 

For food delivery, translocation and phloem are necessary. 

Translocation: The conduction of soluble food material from one part of a plant to another.

Phloem: Vascular plant tissue consisting of living cells arranged into elongated tubes that transport sugar and other organic nutrients throughout the plant. 

I Spy A Root!

Today, March 20th, my baby corn plants have sprouted their first root. 

I expect the carrots to follow shortly after. Growth is a complex process. After germination, primary and secondary growth occurs. Primary growth is when the plant begins sprouting and the shoot apical meristem lengthens from the top of the stem up. The tip of the growing shoot should look like this: 

In primary growth, the root apical meristem allows for growth, like the shoot apical meristem, except underground. Secondary growth is when the plant widens. This type of growth utilizes lateral meristems. Cambiums are tissue layers that add to plant growth. The vascular cambium provides support for the shoot system and the cork cambium is an insulating layer that protects the plants. Monocots do not go through secondary growth. 

Like the hormones in our endocrine system, plants utilize hormones to grow and develop. Cytokinins influence cell division and shoot formation. They also help delay senescence of tissues and work in correlation with auxins. Auxins are hormones that positively influence cell enlargement, bud formation, and root initiation. They affect cell elongation by altering cell wall plasticity.

Auxins play a role in phototropism. Phototropmpism is the growth of an organism in response to light. The cells on one side of the stem elongates, curving the plant towards the sunlight to obtain optimum 

sunlight.

(My carrot plant experienced phototropism later in development.)

They're Growing Up So Fast

Today is March 25 and three of my baby plants have sprouted and are growing strong. Two of my corn plants  and one of my carrots are racing to reach their full potential. One of the corn plants is stuck under soil though still, poor little guy. 

The structure of my baby plants include: root hairs, nodes, internodes, primary roots, lateral roots, leaves, tap roots, adventitious roots, cuticles, dermal tissue systems, cotyledons, coleoptiles, buds, and terminal buds. The structures have the following functions:

Root Hairs: Hairlike outgrowths of the roots that absorb water and minerals from the soil. They are tubular extensions of the epidermis that greatly increase the surface area of the roots. 

Nodes: Part of the stem that bears the leaf. 

Internodes: Part of the plant between two nodes. 

Primary Roots: The first root produced by a germinating seed that develops from the radicle of the embryo. 

Lateral Roots: Roots that extend horizontally from the primary root to support the plant and grip onto the soil. 

Leaves: Expanded, green organs of the plant produced by the stem. The main photosynthetic organ of the vascular plants. 

Tap Roots: The main vertical root that develops from the embryotic root and gives rise to lateral roots. This is not found in monocots. 

Adventitious Roots: Smaller lateral roots that grow from the tap root. 

Cuticles: A waxy covering on the surface of stems and leaves to prevent desiccation in terrestrial plants.

Dermal Tissue: The outer protective covering of plants. 

Cotyledons: The seed leaf of an angiosperm embryo. 

Coleoptiles: The covering of the young shoot of the embryo.

Buds: The small axillary or terminal protuberance on a plant, an undeveloped or rudimentary stem or branch of the plant. 

Terminal Buds: The dominant bud.