Maximum Yield Australia/New Zealand March/April 2018 | Page 48

cycl
the story of stomata
:
Breathe
The Stimulating Story of Stomata
HowPlants
by Shannon McKee | Evolutionary wonders, stomata are vital to plant health.
Knowing how they work and what they do for the plant
is important knowledge for every kind of grower.
T
ake a second and just breathe.
Think about how you are bring-
ing air full of oxygen into your lungs
through your mouth. Now, take a
drink of water and think of how that
water travels through your mouth
down toward your stomach. You
don’t have to think about the air and
water going to the right place unless
something goes wrong and it slides
down the wrong tube.
You may not consider the fact plants
have a mouth, but they do. Plants
have many tiny openings called
stomata, which is “mouth” in Greek.
These microscopic openings are
found on the surface of your plants
and they play a significant role in
your plants’ survival.
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grow cycle
STOMATA BASICS
When you think about how
plants draw in the things they
need to live, you probably focus
on the roots and how they bring
in water and nutrients from
the soil. The roots are a critical
system, but there’s another way
that plants bring in the essen-
tials and that’s through their
stomata. Stomata are found on
the leaves of the plant in the
highest concentration, but they’re
also located along the stem and
other parts that are above the
soil. Having a large number of
stomata around the entire plant
improves the potential of the
plant surviving.