Lightning: Greener, Larger Plants

Have you ever noticed how plants and grass looks greener after a thunderstorm? Your eyes are not decieving you!

Lightning helps deliver usable nitrogen to the plants root system. The atmosphere on Earth is 78% nitrogen, but it is not available to plants in this form. The electrical energy caused by a lightning strike breaks the nitrogen bond, then quickly attaches to oxygen, goes through a chemical process and is then dissolved in rain drops that fall to the Earth in the form of Nitrates.

Nitrates make nitrogen available to be taken up by plant root systems to be used for the production of amino acids and chlorophyll, which help plants photosynthesize and grow larger. Chlorophyll is the green pigment in plant tissue, so the more chlorophyll equals greener plants and their abililty to grow larger!

Now you can watch for the difference after a large thunderstorm for greener, healthier plants!