[APD] Re: Night Growth?

["Steve Pushak" <teban at powersonic_bc.ca>]

Kyle Williams wrote:
> Yes, plants do grow at night.  Keep in mind that CO2 is used
> in photosynthesis.  Photosynthesis is the plants method of
> creating food (i.e. sugars) which is then stored for use
> during growth (by the way fertilizers are not food, they are
> nutrients).  Oxygen is a by-product of the reaction.

Kyle is correct that in saying that plants "grow" at night when we refer
to increase in size of the plant leaves and stems. A very minor quibble:
the "scientific" definition of plant growth measures the carbon content
of the plant; this is a measure of how much CO2 the plant has absorbed
and converted into sugar and ultimately other carbohydrate structures
such as cellulose. The net carbon content of the plant only increases
while photosynthesis is occurring however most of the visible "growth"
that we observe actually happens during the night time.

Plants get bigger at night would be a more accurate statement!

Steve

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