Hi, i was wondering if anybody could tell me why plants wilt...??

Question

I am doing a module on maintenece of life at GCSE LEVEL HIGHER, and was stuck on this particular topic...PLZ HELP ASAP....EXAM 2MORO....THNX!!!!

Answer 1

lol they wilt when they do not have enough water-Imagine you have a long thin balloon with no air in it. The balloon will fall over itself when you try to stand it in an upright position. When you blow air into the balloon, it can stand in an upright position because the air is exerting pressure on the walls of the balloon. In plants, it is not air which exerts pressure, but water. The plant needs water to support it in an upright position and if it loses too much, it will wilt.

In plants, the exertion of pressure occurs at the cellular level and is called 'turgor pressure'. You can simulate wilting in the cells by placing some plant cells in a strong salt or sugar solution which will draw water out of the cell. Under a microscope you will be able to observe how the cell membrane pulls away from the cell wall withdrawing the support given to the wall.

and they wilt in cold weather!
Good luck in your exams!!

Answer 2

In the beginning (while the plant is still actually alive), it's because of lack of water to the tissues. The reason the plant stands up straight normally is because the tissues are turgid, or filled with liquid, and because of the salts and minerals in each cell, there is a certain osmotic pressure exerted outward on each cell wall. As the plant gets dehydrated, there is not enough liquid to maintain this pressure, and the cells start to shrivel, and some even begin to break down. If the plant stays like this for too long, too much damage is done to the cell structure for it to revive itself even when ample water is supplied to it, and the plant will die. Plants are usually pretty resilient, however, and often just go dormant -- this is why if you get herbs from the supermarket that are looking kind of sad, a brief soak in cold water will actually get them to perk up, temporarily.

Answer 3

In general, a plant wilts because it is not taking up enough water to retain the hydraulic pressure within its cells... Vascular plants are given their shape and held upright by water pressure that is transported to their cells by xylem vessels, which are specialized vessels that transport water from the roots to all areas of the plant. When there is not enough water in the soil around the roots, the plant cells loose water and thus their turgidity and the plant visibly wilts. Plants can recover from wilting if sufficient moisture is returned to the soil environment. If a plant is without water for a long enough time, it will eventually reach what is known as its "permanent wilting point," which is defined as " the soil wetness at which a plant wilts and can no longer recover its turgidity when placed in a saturated atmosphere for 12 hours." In other words, if a plant is dehydrated too long, it will not be able to recover from wilting upon the addition of water to the soil. For more information on the permanent wilting point, please see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permanent_wilting_point

Answer 4

the simplest reason for this would be that ,due to some infection the plant body especially its stem or may be because it broke or something,there wouldn't have been food and water supply to the parts of the plant and as u know that for a plant cell to be turgid,it should have an adequate supply of water and good concentration of cell sap,and if not it becomes flaccid and hence the whole part of the plant becomes weak ,brittle and shrinks and finally wilts and falls down.
this also happens during the winter season when the plant shuts down its food producing factory and also water absorption is stopped for few months and hence the leaves fall down but the plant doesn't wilt because of the stored food that it uses to stay tall .

Answer 5

Its all 2 do with osmosis, when the plant doesnt have enough water in the cells, so when the concentration gradient of water molecules is less than outside the plant, the water moves down the concentration gradient through the semi permeable membrane. When this happens the plant loses water and becomes flaccid and plasmolysed meaning the cell membrane comes away from the cell wall making the plant floppy.

Answer 6

hi there are bacically two reasons why plants wilt and they are: dehydration or lack of water and the disease fusarium wilt which is caused by a soil bourne fungus .now all you have to do is look up these topics on any search engine you will need to mention about permanent, and temporary wilting points of a plant also, it's quite simple the info. is there just try it now that you know where to begin

Answer 7

water pressure.... fill a balloon with water until it is firm... this is how a cell should be... now poke a small hole in the balloon near the stem (so it does not burst all at once) and watch as the water flows out.. the balloon becomes flabby.. non-supporting... if you have a bunch of cells like this.. the leaves would begin to droop because the individual cells sag... maybe not the best scientific language.. but you get the idea

Answer 8

Wilting refers to the loss of rigidity of non-woody parts of plants. This occurs when the turgor pressure in non-lignified plant cells falls towards zero, as a result of diminished water in the cells. Lower water availability may result from:

-drought conditions, where the soil moisture drops below conditions most favorable for plant functioning;
-saturated soil conditions, where roots are unable to obtain sufficient oxygen for cellular respiration, and so are unable to transport water into the plant; or
-bacteria or fungi that clog the plant's vascular system.
Wilting diminishes the plant's ability to transpire and grow. Permanent wilting leads to plant death. Symptoms of wilting and blights resemble one another.

In woody plants, reduced water availability leads to cavitation of the xylem.

Answer 9

A plant wilts because the cells in the plants to do not get enough energy and food to harden the outer cell wall.

Answer 10

They become dehydrated. The act of photosynthesis and transpiration are very taxing to a plant. Water them and you will see the end result. They perk right up!