Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

My experiment is about different amounts of nitrogen affecting plant growth. I have to do an interview on my topic (plants). I have a couple of questions. Hope you can help!
1. What do you know about nitrogen as a nutrient?
2. In my experiment, the plant given the fertilizer with the most nitrogen in it was hte biggest but it seemed the weakest during wind or rain, as it wilted. Can you explain this?
3. Could there be problems with plants that grow too rapidly over the course of it's growth?
4. What is nitrogen's role in plant growth?
5. Why does giving a plant more nitrogen help?

Nitrogen is an important natural element that acts as a fertilizer for plants. When legumes( beans) are first planted in a region the bacteria that grows around them pulls in atmospheric nitrogen. This is then turned into nitrates or ammonium. These nitrates help plants to grow properly. In fact nitrogen is basis of many artificial fertilizers
I know this doesn't answer all your questions but I hope this helps

Your answer helped me a lot! Thank you!

Hi,

It sounds as if your fast-growing plants were limited by something else (probably phosphorus). I am not a plant expert, but I know that if you give plants hormones to increase their growth rate, they will indeed be structurally weaker and more likely to bend/break. So, I am not very surprised by your results, though I am surprised that nitrogen caused it and I don't know why it would.