The Plant Life Cycle

As an old generation of plants dies, part of them live on to form the next generation. Our journey begins with this new life, in the seed stage.

The seed is a well designed survival pod. If the seed is lucky enough to survive the winter, and if it was lucky enough to also find itself in soil, than perhaps it will go on to the next stage of plant development. It is called the seedling stage.

Some plants are only seedlings for a few days, while other plants are considered to be in their seedling stage for years (so a plant life cycle could be a long journey indeed). Once again though, if conditions are right (or if humans intervene) this seedling will eventually finish this early stage of development and begin to grow in the vegetative stage of the plant life cycle.

Who can say, some person may even come along and take to the idea of bringing this little plant home with them. Of course, when plants are domesticated they will often require transplanting from time to time.

Sooner or later this vegetative stage will come to an end, and this plant will enter a stage of the plant life cycle called the flowering stage.

Depending on what type of plant this is, it may die after the flowering period, or it may continue to live for a very long time. With careful care and attention however, even the plants that would normally die can live for another flowering stage another day. This careful treatment is known as plant regeneration.

It seems like an incredible feat to give a dying plant such a second chance, but this small miracle is just the tip of the iceburg when it comes to what man has learned about plant behavior and how to manipulate it. In fact, man has developed the amazing ability to control the natural elements and force flowering upon plants out of their natural season.

The small miracles don't stop with the flowering period, either. Man had incredible manipulated plant behavior with cloning that this form of asexual plant reproduction has become more efficient than good old mother nature's own sexual reproductive strategies.

Of course, for those of you a little scared of mans awesome control over the plant life cycle, there is plenty of info to be had on starting seeds.

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