Nitrogen and Legos
You hear about nitrogen in fertilizer a lot. While everyone knows that plants (and pretty much all living things) need nitrogen, most people don’t really know what plants do with it.
Nitrogen is an element. An element is a chemical substance that cannot be broken down any further without losing its essential nature. You can break up a nitrogen atom into electrons, protons, and neutrons, but then it is no longer nitrogen.
Each element can be likened to a unique Lego piece. Just as Legos can be joined in infinite combinations of shapes and colors, elements can be joined in an infinite number of chemical compounds.
In living things, nitrogen is one of the most common elements. It is found in DNA, RNA, and amino acids, all of which are needed for life. So when your plant is growing, it must mean your plant’s cells are dividing. If your plant’s cells are dividing, then that means:
1) they’re making proteins which means they were making amino acids for the proteins
2) they were making RNA in order to make the proteins, AND…
3) cells are making more DNA to run the show
Some plants (but not orchids) have the ability to “fix” nitrogen from air (FYI: air is 78% nitrogen). “Fix” is just a fancy term for putting nitrogen atoms into compounds that are readily usable by living things. Plants can take nitrogen in the form of nitrate (NO3-), as well as ammonium (NH4+).
So if your orchids can’t get enough nitrogen, then they won’t be able to make amino acids for proteins, nor RNA, nor DNA. And they’ll stop growing. Nitrogen, like the better-known element carbon, is an essential building block of life. Make sure your plants get it!