does plants need darkness to grow?
Posted by monica hinojosa on March 20, 2006
Q: does plants need darkness to grow?
State: Texas
A: Plants don't need darkness to grow. In fact, plants growing in Alaska, for example, where summers have very long daylength, grow extremely well with the extra hours of sunlight.
Plants can grow in darkness and that may make you "think" they grow better in the dark. If a seed germinates (sprouts) under a rock, for example, it will use all of the seed's stored energy to grow as much as it can to reach the light. If you lift a rock that has sprouted seeds beneath, you may see that they're really long and seem to have grown well -they'll also be pale looking too. Actually, they are not doing well and if they don't soon get to the light, will use up all of their energy and die. Seeds that germinate and quickly reach sunlight may not be as long as those under the rock but they'll be healthy and able to use that sunlight to make food for further growth. Hope this helps.
John Wiessinger ( March 21, 2006)