How Do Plants Get Nutrients from Soil and Air?

Plants need three fundamental elements in massive quantities just to build their basic physical structure:

• Carbon (C) and Oxygen (O): They absorb Carbon Dioxide ($CO_2$) directly from the air through microscopic holes in their leaves called Stomata.
• Hydrogen (H): They get this by absorbing water ($H_2O$) from the ground.

While sugar is made in the leaves, the true 'vitamins and minerals' (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium - NPK) must come from the dirt.

• The plant grows millions of microscopic, hairy roots deep into the soil.
• These 'root hairs' create a massive surface area. Through a chemical process called Osmosis and Active Transport, the roots literally suck up the dissolved mineral salts and water from the wet soil.

Once the nutrients enter the roots, they are stuck at the bottom of the plant. How do they reach the leaves at the top of a 100-foot tree?

• The plant has a system of hollow, dead wooden pipes running up its stem called the Xylem.
• As the sun heavily evaporates water from the top leaves (Transpiration), it creates a massive vacuum pressure that physically pulls the nutrient-rich water straight up the Xylem pipes from the roots to the very top branches.