this post was submitted on 28 May 2024
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Neverminding the evidence to the contrary. (lemmy.world)
submitted 5 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] -3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Wanna know the most abundant chemical that helps plants grow?

Carbon dioxide.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I’m not sure if you just aren't aware or are being intentionally obtuse, but that isn’t what keeps the soil healthy or enables plants to grow. Have you grown plants ever?

Sure, photosynthesis takes in CO2 and sunlight and converts that into sugars, but plants need much more than that from the soil and water, which we have to add using modern agriculture.

Growing food on the scale to feed our population now requires crop rotations, fallow fields, nitrogen, phosphates, potash, insecticides, and billions of dollars in agricultural subsidies. You can grow a field of crops once or twice before adding all of the fertilizers and pesticides, but any amount of regular farming requires much much much more than CO2.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

I’m familiar with agriculture, having gone to school, read books, and grown plants.

It seems that you are the one being intentionally obtuse. You and I both know that carbon dioxide is kept elevated in greenhouses on purpose because doing so increases the yield of plants grown in those greenhouses.

Yes, other chemicals are necessary to build a plant. The most abundant one however is carbon dioxide. It’s where like 99% of the plant’s mass comes from. And the levels of carbon dioxide in the air change the rate of plant growth.

Nitrogen is also a big limiting factor, but fortunately we’ve found out how to extract nitrogen from the air efficiently using methane, so we can have enough nitrogen fertilizer to feed everyone.