Well, we can tell you that is not absolutely true. The grass is greener where it gets water. But it does not only depend on the water, it depends a lot on the soil. More specifically on soil water interactions. It's also named soil-water processes.
Have you ever heard about the "hydrologic cycle"?
An important question that we asked each other was; what are soil-water processes? Well, we are going to explain it to you.
When it's raining, the water arrives on the soil surface. Then a lot of things can happen to that water. Either the water will enter the soil by infiltration or it will stay on the surface and form puddles if it cannot infiltrate. Once water has entered the soil, it will spread out and move in different directions. This is called redistribution and involves percolation (downward movement) and capillarity (this is sideways and upward movement).
The function of storage is an important soil-water process. It makes the water available for uptake by plant roots and evaporation. Then the water gets into the soil but it's not stored there.
But why are these soil-water processes so important?
Plants need water, air and nutrients. Water movements through soil is what allows there to be air exchange in the soil too and it delivers the nutrients which plants need and get mostly by their roots.
Vocabulary
Audio Pitch
Gewerbliche Berufsschule 2.m4a (365,52 kb)
Gewerbliche Berufsschule 3.m4a (482,78 kb)
Quiz question
What does a plant need?
a) only water
b) water, air, nutrients
c) water, sun, air
Where does the soil-water processes play a key role?
a) agricultural cycle
b) biological and medical cycle
c) hydrologic cycle
Team: Genti & Sandrine