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Asked by anon-207520 to Silvia, Scott, Oliver, Natalie, Michelle, Lowri on 13 Mar 2019. This question was also asked by anon-207507.
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Natalie Lamb answered on 13 Mar 2019:
Plants need a small amount of salt to grow but saltwater has such a high concentration of salt that it can be poisonous to most plants.
If saltwater is poured over a plant, contact with the leaves and stems will not usually harm the plant.
If saltwater soaks the leaves and stays on them for an extended period of time, the water will be absorbed from the leaf, leaving behind just the salt which can inhibit photosynthesis.
If saltwater is absorbed into the soil, the plant tries to absorb it throughout its roots but the salt in the soil actually draws the water out of the plant, dehydrating and eventually killing it.
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Lowri Evans answered on 14 Mar 2019:
The salt concentration in sea water is probably not suitable for your garden plants. Drinking salt water would not be good for humans either, you would eventually die from dehydration. So a similar process would happen in plants, the plants would also become dehydrated. This is all to do with the balance of salt inside and outside of cells.
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Scott Graham answered on 15 Mar 2019:
im not sure on the exact effects sea water would have but i cant imagine it would be good for the plants. You could create your own experiment where you make up different concentrations of salt water and watering different plants with a different concentration and see the effects. Although the higher the salt concentration the more likely the plant wont grow well and will die. This is due to the salt causing dehydration like others have said also
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Oliver Andrews answered on 15 Mar 2019:
Too much salt! As awesomely answered by the other scientists. It’s worth saying, though, that “marine plants” (called phytoplankton) live and photosynthesise in seawater, however their biology is quite different.
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