GROWTH

According to Wikipedia....

Growth of Plants

Most of the solid material in a plant is taken from the atmosphere. Through a process known as photosynthesis, plants use the energy in sunlight to convert carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, plus water, into simple sugars. These sugars are then used as building blocks and form the main structural component of the plant. Chlorophyll, a green-colored, magnesium-containing pigment is essential to this process; it is generally present in plant leaves, and often in other plant parts as well.

Plants rely on soil primarily for support and water (in quantitative terms), but also obtain compounds of nitrogen, phosphorus, and other crucial elemental nutrients. For the majority of plants to grow successfully they also require oxygen in the atmosphere and around their roots for respiration. However, some plants grow as submerged aquatics, using oxygen dissolved in the surrounding water, and a few specialized vascular plants, such as mangroves, can grow with their roots in anoxic conditions.


I watered my plants twice, from the time I planted them to Yesterday Tuesday May 12th. Although it has rained many times in the last 7 days, my patio is designed for it not to get wet. I don't know whether to look at that as a good thing or a bad thing. On one hand, I see it as a postive thing bc you can sit in the patio on a rainy day and not worry about getting wet. On the other hand, my plants and vegetables don't get any of the water from the rain so I will have to be consistant with making sure they are watered.

In the past 7 days, there hasn't been any significant growth changes to them. Thats not always a bad thing. Plants have feelings and go thru shock when transplanted to new pots. Although they haven't grown in length but they are looking strong which means that they are settling in well into their new home. Hit the jump to read more....

I enjoy checking on my garden whether its when I wake up or when I come home from work everyday. I get so excited to see them flourish and grow that when I check on them, I hope to see some growth or significant changes, but i don't. They seem to look same as they did yesterday when I checked them. Flowers are like children. You don't see the growth on a daily basis but after a few weeks, you begin to notice the change. My daughter (she is my step-daughter but I'm one that does not like to call her that, but feel like I must at times so people don't look at me crazy)is a prime example of that. I met her at the age of two. Being with her on a daily basis, I don't notice or realize how much she is growing and has grown. When I look at pictures of Us from when our journey together began, it hits me like a ton of brick. "Man, how much she has grown", i say to myself. With this, i don't just speak of growth in height but also in her mannerism, her speach, her knowledge, and her wisdom. She takes on pieces of myself, her mother, and also the people around her. We are the atmosphere(the sun-light, carbon-dioxide, the water) that her mind feeds from. We are also her soil that she relies on for support.

I'm great with being that soil and being that atmosphere but what I lack and what her mother is great at, is providing oxygen. Oxygen to me is that space around the roots for respiration. Many of you may and some may not know, you can't compact the soil of a pot where you planted your vegetable or flower plants. Plants need the air space around it's roots to grow and breathe. I, on the other hand, have become strict like my parents. Somewhere down the line, I've gotten consistency, what most other parents have advised, confused with being strict and have not figured out how to balance it them both. My wife and I are complete opposites with this that I see both the negative and postive affects of it but nevertheless, my daughter is growing into this big, beautiful, intellegent flower that it just amazes me.

She is not the only one growing. I too am growing and my daughter has become a portion of my atmostphere that I feed from, along with my wife and my 1yr old son. I dont see the growth on a day-to-day basis but I realize it when I look back on how much I've changed because of her, my wife, and son. I'm blessed to have them as my atmosphere, sun-light, water, and soil.