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Asked by to Amelia, Izzy, Sarah on 19 Mar 2014. This question was also asked by .
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Isabel Webb answered on 19 Mar 2014:
We can’t give plants steroids to help them grow bigger, since steroids work on muscles which plants don’t have.
We give plants fertilisers which contain important chemicals like nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium which are essential for building their cells. Lots of fertiliser helps them grow big – and so farmers use fertilisers on crops.
Nitrogen containing compounds are especially important to make DNA and proteins, and some plants like peas have relationships with bacteria that provide nitrogen to them. This is what I work on and it’s quite an interesting area with a lot of research going on. Making fertilisers chemically uses up a lot of energy and a lot of money, and isn’t great for climate change. This is why my work is so important – trying to work out how to make these fertilisers biologically. If we could do this, a lot less money would be spent on fertilisers, and it could reduce food prices, as well as helping poorer farmers in places like Africa
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Amelia Frizell-Armitage answered on 20 Mar 2014:
Steroids work by making your muscles grow bigger, faster and stronger. Many steroids actually come from plants (but they don’t act as steroid in the plant).
There is no evidence (that I know of) that giving plants steroids will have an effect on their growth. Plants already have a hormone called Auxin, which does the job of steroids. Auxin promotes plant growth and helps the plant grow bigger and faster when it needs to.
As Izzy says we also give plants fertiliser to make them grow better, or those little packets of biofeed stuff you get with your shop bought flowers which contains nutrients and minerals that will make the plant grow faster.
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