LaMotte Water & Soil pH - Manual (Page 13)

MICRONUTRIENT: Also known as trace elements. Those nutrients
which are required by the plants in small quantities. The micronutrients
are manganese, boron, zinc, copper, cobalt, aluminum, and molybdenum.
MINERAL DEFICIENCY DISEASE: A plant disease caused by the lack
of one or more nutrients.
MINERAL SOIL: General term used for a soil composed primarily of
inorganic matter.
NEUTRAL: A substance with a pH of 7.0.
NUTRIENT, PLANT: Any element taken in by a plant which is essential
to its growth. Nutrients are used by the plant to produce food and tissue.
ORGANIC MATTER: Usually refers to living or dead plant and animal
matter.
ORGANIC SOIL: General term used for a soil composed primarily of
organic matter.
OXIDATION: Chemical change caused by oxygen reacting with the
substance.
pH: A measurement of the acidity or alkalinity of a substance. The pH
scale runs from 0 to 14, with 7.0 considered neutral.
PHOTOSYNTHESIS: The process by which plants manufacture
carbohydrates and oxygen from carbon dioxide and water in the presence
of chlorophyll, using sunlight as an energy source.
POLLUTION: The presence of matter or energy whose nature, location
or quantity produces undesired environmental effects.
PURIFY/PURIFICATION: The process by which polluted substances
are cleaned. Purification can occur naturally, or by any of several
mechanical means, such as filtration or chemical treatment.
RESIDUE: The particles or sediment which remains after the solution is
removed.
RESPIRATION: The process by which living organisms convert food
into energy by chemical reactions and liberate carbon dioxide.
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