Plant Growth Factors: Water
Thought Questions
Explain the science behind the following gardening questions:
1. Review how water stress impacts plant growth processes, then list common symptoms of drought stress.
In Colorado, water availability and quality can be a limiting factor in plant growth. Quality issues generally deal with excessive sodium or other soluble salts.
Available water limits potential for crops and gardens in many areas of the west. In cities, the cost of the infrastructure to supply water drives the need for water conservation.
Water management is a topic of other Colorado Master Gardener training classes. For additional information on water management, refer to CMG GardenNotes on Irrigation Management and Water-Wise Landscape Design.
Role of Water
Plants are over 90% water. The role of water is summarized in Table 1.
Common Symptoms of Water Stress
Drought
- Decreased growth
- Small, off-colored leaves
- Decline from top down
- Early fall color
- Reduced xylem growth = long-term growth reduction
- Stress may show up five or more years later.
Water Logged Soils
- Root activity slows or shuts down, and plants show symptoms of drought
- Decline in root growth slows plant growth processes
- Leaves may wilt from lack of water uptake
- Root rots are common in some species
- Lower interior leaves may yellow
Leaf scorch (short-term water deficiency in leaves)
- Marginal burning
- Often from the top down, on southwest side, or from the side with root injury or root restrictions
Contributing factors to leaf scorch
- Dry or overly wet soils
- Compacted soils
- Limited root spread
- Root injury
- Structural damage to xylem tissues
- Trunk and branch injury
- Excessive wind and heat
- Excessive canopy growth (from heavy fertilization)
Relative Humidity
Water moves from areas of high relative humidity to areas of lower relative humidity. Inside a leaf, the relative humidity between cells approaches 100%. When the stomata open, water vapors inside the leaf rush out forming a bubble of higher humidity around the stomata on the outside of the leaf.
The difference in relative humidity around the stomata and adjacent air regulates transpiration rates and pulls water up through the xylem tissues. Transpiration peaks under hot dry and/or windy conditions. When the supply of water from the roots is inadequate, the stomata close, photosynthesis shuts down, and plants can wilt.
Figure 1. Water vapor moves out and carbon dioxide move into the leaf through the stomata.
Outdoors – In the arid climate of the west, low summer humidity helps manage some insect and disease problems and can aggravate others. The relative humidity returns to normal levels within a few minutes of watering/irrigation.
Indoors – With forced air heating, many homes have very low relative humidity in the winter. Some homes can have excessively high relative humidity due to a large number of houseplants, cooking and frequent long showers. Both extremely high and low indoor relative humidity are health concerns.
Additional Information
CMG GardensNotes on vegetable gardening
- Horticulture Classification, #121
- Taxonomic Classification, #122
- Plant Structures: Cells, Tissues, and Structures, #131
- Plant Structures: Roots, #132
- Plant Structures: Stems, #133
- Plant Structures: Leaves, #134
- Plant Structures: Flowers, #135
- Plant Structures: Fruit, #136
- Plant Structures: Seeds, #137
- Plant Growth Factors: Photosynthesis, Respiration and Transpiration, #141
- Plant Growth Factors: Light, #142
- Plant Growth Factors: Temperature, #143
- Plant Growth Factors: Water, #144
- Plant Growth Factors: Hormones, #145
- Homework: How Plants Grow. #147
- References and Review Questions: How Plants Grow, #120
- Worksheet: Plant Structures, #146
- CMG GardenNotes are available online at www.cmg.colostate.edu
- Colorado Master Gardener/Colorado Gardener Certificate Training is made possible by a grant from the Colorado Garden Show, Inc.
- Colorado State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Colorado counties cooperating
- Extension programs are available to all without discrimination.
No endorsements of products mentioned is intended nor is criticism implied of products not mentioned.- Copyright. 2003-11. Colorado Master Gardener Program, Colorado State University Extension. All Rights Reserved. CMG GardenNotes may be reproduced without change or additions, for nonprofit educational use.
Revised December 2011
