The Sequence of Steps From Seed to Plant
A healthy plant starts from a seed and must undergo several stages of growth in the process. The basic steps are the same in all plants, although the seeds and final result may look entirely different. Understanding the sequence of steps from seed to plant is essential to successful gardening. This knowledge dictates when seeds should be planted, how much time they need to grow, how to get a big yield and when the plants are ready for harvest. Does this Spark an idea?
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Germination
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Germination is the process in which seeds sprout and become seedlings with tiny leaves and roots. Seeds are planted in soil and provided with water and light. Eventually, a sprout will develop and break through the seed case. The length of time for germination varies with each type of plant, but the basics for germinating the seeds are universal.
Vegetative Plant
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A seedling continues to grow into a vegetative plant. Roots spread throughout the soil to anchor the plant and leaves sprout through the soil. The roots absorb moisture and food, while the leaves absorb light to help the plant grow. When leaves or vegetation are visible above the soil, you have a vegetative plant. This is usually the stage at which a plant is transferred from its starting tray to an individual pot.
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Developing Reproductive Organs
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The main goal of any plant is to produce new life by producing seeds. A plant can be male or female and create seeds through sexual reproduction. A male plant develops its sexual organ, known as the stamen, while female plants develop pistils, the female plant's reproductive organ. Some plants contain both male and female parts, the stamen and the pistil, and reproduce through asexual reproduction. During this reproductive stage of growth, female plants attract the attention of male plants by producing flowers to increase the chances of reproduction. Males produce pollen. If gardeners do not want to produce seeds, the male and female plants should be separated as soon as gender is apparent. Seeds may not be desired because the energy of a plant goes into producing seeds rather than producing high-quality fruit or flowers.
Pollination
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After gender is established in plants, the next step is reproduction. This occurs through pollination. To reproduce, the pollen from the male plant must implant itself on the pistil of the female plant. Insects like bees assist in this process as nature's pollinators by carrying pollen on their bodies when they move from one plant to another. Pollination may also occur if pollen is carried with the wind from a male plant to a female plant. Indoor gardeners encourage pollination by shaking pollen from a plant and transplanting it to another. In asexual plants with both parts, the pollen need only drop from one part of the plant to another.
Seed Production
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Once pollen is transferred from the male stamen to the female pistil, the female plant produces seeds -- the final product of plant reproduction. Seeds make it possible for new plants to be developed that share qualities of both parent plants. The seed may grow within a flower or in pods that hang from the plant.
Death or Dormancy
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The final stage in a plant's life varies greatly among different plants. Some plants, such as annual flowers, only live for one year and must be replanted at the beginning of each growing season. In this case, the plant will wither and brown at the end of its growing season. Perennial plants come back every year but will still wither and brown at the end of the season. These types of plants, including tulips that grow from bulbs, experience a period of dormancy during colder months but return as shoots when the weather warms in spring. Deciduous trees lose their leaves as the weather cools, but the actual tree is always visible and alive. Like perennials, the tree produces new leaves when the weather warms. Even plants that experience dormancy will eventually die, although some trees have lived for thousands of years.
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References
- Photo Credit Sprout image by Galyna Andrushko from Fotolia.com
