Plant structural component of the plant. Chlorophyll, a green-colored, magnesium-containing pigment is essential to this process; it is generally present in plant leaves, and often in other plant parts as well. Parasitic plants, on the other hand, use the resources of their host to provide the materials needed for metabolism and growth. Plants usually rely on soil primarily for support and water (in quantitative terms), but they also obtain compounds of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and other elemental nutrients from the soil. Epiphytic and lithophytic plants depend on air and nearby debris for nutrients, and carnivorous plants supplement their nutrient requirements,
Plant nutrition gardeners to grow their plants in a controlled environment. The most common solution is the Hoagland solution, developed by D. R. Hoagland in 1933. The solution consists of all the essential nutrients in the correct proportions necessary for most plant growth. An aerator is used to prevent an anoxic event or hypoxia. Hypoxia can affect nutrient uptake of a plant because, without oxygen present, respiration becomes inhibited within the root cells. The nutrient film technique is a hydroponic technique in which the roots are not fully submerged. This allows for adequate aeration of the roots, while a "film" thin layer