The plants are beginning to grow larger, and the stems are taller. For our plant, the stems are becoming a purple-lilac color. The leaves on the plant are also growing broader.
Our plants participate in the water cycle by taking water out of the ground and bringing it to the leaves, where it evaporates back into the atmosphere.
The plants participate in the carbon cycle by absorbing atmospheric carbon and using photosynthesis to convert it into sugars and oxygen. If the plant is eaten by an animal, the carbon in it will be passed on to the animal. If another animal then eats the herbivore, the carbon will be passed on again. When the plant dies, it decays, releasing CO2 back into the atmosphere. Some carbon in plants is kept out of the carbon cycle temporarily by becoming a fossil fuel.
Atmospheric nitrogen is turned into nitrates by nitrogen-fixing and nitrifying bacteria. These nitrates are taken in through the roots of the plant. After the plant dies, it decomposes and the nitrogen goes back into the soil, where it is either absorbed by other plants or it is converted by denitrifying bacteria and released back into the atmosphere.
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