Plants are incredible forms of life that are super important in our world. Like people and animals, plants age. Have you ever noticed as the season changes how the leaves on trees change color and fall off? This occurs as leaves age and eventually die. But you may be surprised to learn that there are some ways to slow down the aging process in leaves. There are a couple of ways we can do this, such as with Plant Growth Regulators, or PGRs.
What are Plant Growth Regulators?
Plant Growth Regulators, or pgr in plants, are unique chemicals that we use to try to manage how plants grow and develop. They play a variety of important roles in different plant processes — doing things like making flowers, growing seeds and, yes, even making leaves get old. PGRs can slow the natural aging process of leaves, allowing plants to remain healthier and greener for longer.
How Do PGRs Help Leaves?
PGRs can be used to maintain leaves on the plant longer before they begin to yellow and abscise. PGRs are able to maintain leaves in a healthy and green appearance. This is significant because it’s through a process called photosynthesis that leaves help plants create food. When leaves stay in good health and remain green longer, the more plants can continue to grow and thrive.
What Happens When Leaves Age?
Leaves age-you can call it senescence. Leaves turn brown and decay, they become brown and lose chlorophyll during senescence. Otherwise, this is all part of a plant’s normal process of aging. We can, however, reduce this process somewhat by making use of PGRs. PGRs can regulate some hormones in the plant that control aging. By maintaining the balance of these hormones, PGRs can slow down leaf aging and maintain the plant in a youthful and tender state.
How Do We Use PGRs?
So, how do PGRs come in play to postpone leaf aging? There are a couple methods, one being to spray PGRs straight onto the foliage of plants. This enables the PGRs to be rapidly absorbed, thereby delaying leaf senescence. Another approach is to use PGRs in the soil at or near the root zone of the plant. This permits the plant to absorb the PGRs and translocate them to the leaves.
Why Is Healthy Foliage Important?
The use of PGRs, rather, delaying leaf senescence and preserving the health and productivity of plants. Healthy leaves equal strong photosynthesis, which means more food for the plant. It can help plants grow bigger and make more of them. We can't help them achieve their peak performance to the best of their ability if we don't take care of the plant and use PGRs to have that health/full leaves for the plant.
Conclusion - Plant Growth Regulators are a blessing in disguise as they allow us to hold back the aging process of our leaves and keep them brimming with life. But if we know how PGRs operate and how to prevent their function with our plants, we can use them to advantage, and keep leaves longer without any negative side effects.