4 ms·

Plants also are able to make more of themselves from dirt out of pennies worth of matterial

ben_w 3y ago
Mostly they make themselves out of air, which is even better. The dirt has necessary trace elements, but the carbon? That's all from CO2.
- goldenkey 3y ago
  In the same vein, most of our energy comes from oxygen, not the food we eat :-) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6379287/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6379287/
  - detourdog 3y ago
    Yikes sounds like decomposition.
    - goldenkey 3y ago
      Indeed, chemical engines, naturally aspirated. :-)
- throwawaymaths 3y ago
  Oh man you've never cared for trees/plants have you. Some of em (most often the ones you "want") are total crybabies over those "trace elements". You can't have DNA without phosphorus, for example, and many plants can't make nitrogen from air. Don't get me started on magnesium (needed for chlorophyll)
  - chewbacha 3y ago
    I understand what you mean but the vast majority of their structure is carbon based and that comes from gaseous CO2. Can’t survive without the dirt but can’t get big without CO2
  - TaylorAlexander 3y ago
    I want to suggest re-reading their comment. “mostly they make themselves from air” and “dirt has necessary trace elements” are both 100% factually correct. The word “necessary” covers what you are saying in your comment. There’s no need to suggest they haven’t raised plants when what they said is literally correct.
  - sbierwagen 3y ago
    https://nutrients.ifas.ufl.edu/nutrient_pages/bsfpages/EssentialSub2.htm https://nutrients.ifas.ufl.edu/nutrient_pages/bsfpages/Essen... element %, dry wt. oxygen 45 carbon 44 hydrogen 6.3 nitrogen 1.3 silicon 1.2 potassium 0.9 calcium 0.25 phosphorus 0.16 magnesium 0.16 sulfur 0.15 chlorine 0.15 aluminum 0.11 sodium 0.03 iron 0.009 manganese 0.006 zinc 0.003 boron 0.001 copper 0.0005 molybdenum 0.0001 Just CHON is 96.6% of plant mass. Adding silicon, potassium and calcium brings it up to 98.95%
    - kccqzy 3y ago
      What's your point? If I only allow you to eat C, H, O, N and their compounds, will you survive?
      - adastra22 3y ago
        His point is that most of the mass comes from the air.
    - Miraste 3y ago
      The ocean is 96.5% H2O, but man, I had a hard time drinking it for some reason.
      - sdenton4 3y ago
        Fascinating - that's lower than I would have guessed. It seems ocean water is 2.5% salts, which, yeah, is pretty damned salty compared to anything I cook...
    - metaphor 3y ago
      Corn tissue...with a very instructive caveat emptor: > Be aware that elemental concentrations in plant tissue can vary widely for a given crop depending on the stage of growth and environmental conditions and for different crops, yet plants can still appear normal and healthy. For some elements the range of sufficiency is wide and for others the range is narrow. A good deal of caution needs to be exercised in diagnosing mineral deficiencies based only on plant tissue analysis. Appreciate the cite though.
  - RajT88 3y ago
    The boffins are working on self fertilizing crops now: https://e360.yale.edu/features/indigenous-maize-who-owns-the-rights-to-mexicos-wonder-plant https://e360.yale.edu/features/indigenous-maize-who-owns-the... It is wild that this is a thing.
    - alliao 3y ago
      some say crop some say pest tomato tomato... really got that winter adapted hogs vibe that are causing havoc between Canada and the US
    - adastra22 3y ago
      It’s been a thing for hundreds of years. That’s why agriculture traditionally rotated crops and planted beans every 3rd season or so. I’m not sure what if anything is deferent about this species of corn, except perhaps that it is itself a desirable crop with more market value. We stopped doing this and moved to artificial fertilizers in the 20th century because it vastly improved crop yields, and is cheaper.
      - RajT88 3y ago
        > I’m not sure what if anything is deferent about this species of corn This species of corn has weird roots halfway up which drip goop down on the ground. The goop contains nitrogen fixing bacteria from the soil which pull nitrogen out of the air to fertilize the soil. It is massively different from what you say. It would vastly reduce farm runoff while increasing yields. All facts contained within the article.
        adastra22 3y ago
        I’m not sure you understand my post. Beans have the exact same nitrogen fixing bacteria in their roots too.
        RajT88 3y ago
        Beans still require extra fertilizer. This corn species does not. Also it is corn, and not beans...? Beans is used in crop rotation in service of corn harvests. What if all of a sudden you don't have to rotate crops? This is a big deal. Don't pooh-pooh it.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
swayvil 3y ago
And self-repair. And self propagate. They are definitely not optimized solely for making energy.

Mostly they make themselves out of air, which is even better. The dirt has necessary trace elements, but the carbon? That's all from CO2.

goldenkey 3y ago
In the same vein, most of our energy comes from oxygen, not the food we eat :-) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6379287/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6379287/
- detourdog 3y ago
  Yikes sounds like decomposition.
  - goldenkey 3y ago
    Indeed, chemical engines, naturally aspirated. :-)
throwawaymaths 3y ago
Oh man you've never cared for trees/plants have you. Some of em (most often the ones you "want") are total crybabies over those "trace elements". You can't have DNA without phosphorus, for example, and many plants can't make nitrogen from air. Don't get me started on magnesium (needed for chlorophyll)
- chewbacha 3y ago
  I understand what you mean but the vast majority of their structure is carbon based and that comes from gaseous CO2. Can’t survive without the dirt but can’t get big without CO2
- TaylorAlexander 3y ago
  I want to suggest re-reading their comment. “mostly they make themselves from air” and “dirt has necessary trace elements” are both 100% factually correct. The word “necessary” covers what you are saying in your comment. There’s no need to suggest they haven’t raised plants when what they said is literally correct.
- sbierwagen 3y ago
  https://nutrients.ifas.ufl.edu/nutrient_pages/bsfpages/EssentialSub2.htm https://nutrients.ifas.ufl.edu/nutrient_pages/bsfpages/Essen... element %, dry wt. oxygen 45 carbon 44 hydrogen 6.3 nitrogen 1.3 silicon 1.2 potassium 0.9 calcium 0.25 phosphorus 0.16 magnesium 0.16 sulfur 0.15 chlorine 0.15 aluminum 0.11 sodium 0.03 iron 0.009 manganese 0.006 zinc 0.003 boron 0.001 copper 0.0005 molybdenum 0.0001 Just CHON is 96.6% of plant mass. Adding silicon, potassium and calcium brings it up to 98.95%
  - kccqzy 3y ago
    What's your point? If I only allow you to eat C, H, O, N and their compounds, will you survive?
    - adastra22 3y ago
      His point is that most of the mass comes from the air.
  - Miraste 3y ago
    The ocean is 96.5% H2O, but man, I had a hard time drinking it for some reason.
    - sdenton4 3y ago
      Fascinating - that's lower than I would have guessed. It seems ocean water is 2.5% salts, which, yeah, is pretty damned salty compared to anything I cook...
  - metaphor 3y ago
    Corn tissue...with a very instructive caveat emptor: > Be aware that elemental concentrations in plant tissue can vary widely for a given crop depending on the stage of growth and environmental conditions and for different crops, yet plants can still appear normal and healthy. For some elements the range of sufficiency is wide and for others the range is narrow. A good deal of caution needs to be exercised in diagnosing mineral deficiencies based only on plant tissue analysis. Appreciate the cite though.
- RajT88 3y ago
  The boffins are working on self fertilizing crops now: https://e360.yale.edu/features/indigenous-maize-who-owns-the-rights-to-mexicos-wonder-plant https://e360.yale.edu/features/indigenous-maize-who-owns-the... It is wild that this is a thing.
  - alliao 3y ago
    some say crop some say pest tomato tomato... really got that winter adapted hogs vibe that are causing havoc between Canada and the US
  - adastra22 3y ago
    It’s been a thing for hundreds of years. That’s why agriculture traditionally rotated crops and planted beans every 3rd season or so. I’m not sure what if anything is deferent about this species of corn, except perhaps that it is itself a desirable crop with more market value. We stopped doing this and moved to artificial fertilizers in the 20th century because it vastly improved crop yields, and is cheaper.
    - RajT88 3y ago
      > I’m not sure what if anything is deferent about this species of corn This species of corn has weird roots halfway up which drip goop down on the ground. The goop contains nitrogen fixing bacteria from the soil which pull nitrogen out of the air to fertilize the soil. It is massively different from what you say. It would vastly reduce farm runoff while increasing yields. All facts contained within the article.
      - adastra22 3y ago
        I’m not sure you understand my post. Beans have the exact same nitrogen fixing bacteria in their roots too.
        RajT88 3y ago
        Beans still require extra fertilizer. This corn species does not. Also it is corn, and not beans...? Beans is used in crop rotation in service of corn harvests. What if all of a sudden you don't have to rotate crops? This is a big deal. Don't pooh-pooh it.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

swayvil 3y ago

And self-repair. And self propagate. They are definitely not optimized solely for making energy.