How do plants survive the winter?

Method 1. Take off all the "leaves" on your body

What we often see in winter is bare plants standing there. It is because the drop in temperature causes changes in their bodies, causing them to start losing their leaves. When the weather gets colder and the daytime hours get shorter, it starts transferring nutrients from its leaves to the branches, causing the leaves to fall and the plant to enter a dormant period. After entering winter, plants "take out" the nutrients they have previously stored and decompose them under the action of enzymes. The purpose is to increase the concentration of plant cell sap so that they will not be easily frozen.

Method 2: Regulate your body’s moisture

Just like us humans, physiological changes are constantly occurring in the bodies of plants. In winter, plants reduce their energy consumption and enhance their resistance to cold. Take coniferous trees for example, they can survive in minus 40 degrees Celsius, which shows their strong survival ability. In winter, we find that many outdoor plants will wither, but don’t mistakenly think that the plants are dead. This is their way of protecting themselves from frostbite in winter. The wilting of plants is a sign of reduced water absorption and lower water content in the body.

Method 3. Other methods

1. The way pine and cypress spend the winter looks very advanced. Their leaf structure is quite unique, and in order to resist the cold of winter, they mainly achieve this goal by preventing the dissipation of water. The epidermal cell walls of the plant's leaves are very thick. When the weather is cold, the cells in the lower epidermis close and the root activity decreases, reducing the water content in the body.

2. Some plants have their own tricks to preserve heat. Most annual plants store their energy in their seeds, and the seeds continue to reproduce after being spread. For perennial plants, they will store nutrients in their root systems before winter arrives to accumulate strength for growth in the coming year.

3. In addition, some plants neither store these essential nutrients in their seeds nor in their roots, but reduce free water to resist severe cold, such as wheat and rapeseed in winter, which store a large amount of nutrients in their bodies.