Plant Food & Minerals: How Plants Use What They Make

Plants are incredible—they make their own food through photosynthesis and use minerals from the soil to grow and stay healthy.

 

What Happens to the Glucose Made During Photosynthesis?

Photosynthesis produces glucose, a type of sugar. But plants don’t always use it right away—they store and transform it into other forms for various purposes.

Uses of Glucose:

Starch:

• Glucose is converted into starch for storage.
• Starch is an energy reserve, stored in roots, stems, and leaves.

Cellulose:

• Glucose is transformed into cellulose to build strong cell walls.
• Cellulose gives plants their rigid structure.

Respiration:

• Glucose is broken down during respiration to release energy for the plant’s activities, like growth and repair.

Sucrose:

• Glucose is converted into sucrose for transport through the phloem to different parts of the plant, such as growing shoots and storage tissues.

Nectar:

• Glucose is used to produce nectar, which attracts insects for pollination.

 

Key Minerals for Plant Growth

• Plants need many minerals such as lipids, proteins and nucleic acid (DNA), which are not made through photosynthesis. Phytosynthesis only makes carbohydrates
• These minerals need to be made by the plant themselves
• Many of these minerals which are essential to the plant contain the mineral ions magnesium and nitrogen. For example, chlorophyll and proteins.
• These mineral ions are absorbed through the root of the plant by the root hair cells 

Plants also need minerals from the soil to stay healthy. Let’s look at two of the most important ones:

 

Mineral	Function	Deficiency Symptom
Nitrate Ions ($NO_3^1)$	Nitrates are used to make amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins.	Yellowing leaves, reduced photosynthesis and slower growth.
Magnesium Ions ($Mg^{2+}$)	Magnesium is required to make chlorophyll, the green pigment that captures sunlight for photosynthesis.	Leaves turn yellow, a condition called chlorosis.

 

Analogy: Minerals Are Plant Vitamins

Think of nitrate and magnesium ions as vitamins for plants—they’re needed in small amounts but are super important for health and growth.