How Do Roots Breathe? Explained in Simple Terms

Design and InstallationGarden Caregarden TriviaIndoor plantsPlant Health Care
Written By Peter Morris

The weight of water

Water is pretty heavy.  When it rains or one waters a plant, the water molecules push the air out of the soil as they occupy the air spaces between the particles of soil.

Once the water is either used up or drains away by gravity, the air containing the oxygen returns again to the air spaces in the soil. The oxygen will then diffuse directly into the root cells. 

Air Spaces

 The more air spaces the soil texture had to begin with, the more water it can hold. Organic matter in the soil contains many spaces between particles. Sandy soil have very few. Clay has almost none !

Diagram of water and air getting into cells

 Plants need to have water available in the soil for when they need it. Roots move into the soil and find these air spaces then wrap around or surround the soil particles. When the water arrives, the roots are in the correct place to absorb it. As the water is used up, the air spaces return and the roots can now get their oxygen! 

Root hairs absorb 90% of all the water for a plant

Overwatering

 Like any other cell, roots need oxygen to survive.  But if you water too frequently, the air spaces never empty out completely and the oxygen does not get replenished from the returning air. In prolonged water filled soil the roots die from lack of oxygen. 

Stagnant soil with water puddling on top tends to be anaerobic

 Most people call this “over watering”.  However, it is not the amount of water that is causing the problem but the frequency of watering. The lack of oxygen ! 

The cell membrane

 Water molecules that are in the air spaces go directly through the roots' cell wall through very tiny holes. Oxygen is also able to enter these cells through the same cell wall and membrane. But it does so at a different interval. 

Water molecules simply travel through the root cell membrane

Adaptations to wet soil

 Mangrove and swamp plants live in water saturated soil devoid of oxygen !!!  So how can they live ? 

Mangrove roots growing upwards to capture the oxygen !

 Those plants adapted a totally distinct method of oxygenating their cells. They have evolved special roots that grow upwards into the air.  These tend to be hollow and with many air spaces and are in constant contact with air. The are called pneumatophores.  

For the best oxygenated garden ever - Call Plant Specialists TODAY !

Don't delay – the sooner the better !

GREENING NEW YORK FOR OVER 52 YEARS !

  Article written by our Staff Horticulturist, Peter B Morris, BSc, MSc, MBAAll photographs used with permission from @SHUTTERSTOCK 

Peter Morris

Peter was born and raised on a beautiful green island in the midst of a tropical rainforest. He was introduced into the world of plants at the age of six when his grandmother, an avid Spanish gardener herself, asked him to help her grow seeds for her pepper garden. He was hooked! By the time he was a teen, he had his own rose and orchid collection numbering in the hundreds. Botany was in his blood, and that is what he set out to study.

His passion brought him to NY in the late seventies to further his education. His tenacity allowed him to work full time at Plant Specialists while he completed a MS in Plant Biology. As a manager at the time he felt unsatisfied with his knowledge of business and business processes. Peter felt compelled to learn, so he then pursued and completed an MBA in Quality Management within a few short years.

Peter’s other passion is teaching. His natural ability is quickly consumed by our staff in all subjects in Botany, Horticulture, and Landscaping. He created an immense reference library of more than 3,500 plants providing an invaluable resource for our staff.

Peter’s breadth of knowledge and wisdom allows him to effectively diagnose the needs of plants. Sometimes just by walking into a garden he can create a prescription that fixes even the hardest issue. He is our Staff Botanist, Diagnostician, and all around Mentor. Recently, he has put his immense knowledge and skills into developing a new department that focuses on Plant Healthcare. As he puts it, “Magic through Science”. The PHC staff that surround him have avidly consumed his teachings. Substantially developing their own plant wisdom, many have taken on difficult plant health issues with spectacular results.

Plant Healthcare has been an instant success with customers! The proper treatment of insects and diseases including Organic methods has made pest control a necessity for every plant. Correcting hormonal imbalances caused by planting in containers or refurbishing soils leached of nutrients by irrigation systems are big challenges PHC has become quite comfortable addressing. The scientific approach to the complex demands of keeping plants healthy in our harsh city environment has made many a customer say WOW!

Previous

Recognizing Mineral Deficiencies in Plants
Next

Why Do Plants Have Hair? (And What It Does)