Spring Transformations Experiments - A Red Bean Seed To A Green Plant

Have you ever wondered? I always do. Let me tell you about my recent spring experiment (yes, I am waiting patiently by creating my own small gardens in the house). In the jar, I placed some cotton and water, two red bean seeds (my dry food supplies), and exposed them all to the sun's light. Then I observed germination (the same thing I observed when I soaked my peas or beans for too long). Then I observed beans sprouting, but unfortunately only one of them. The roots formed and grew into the cotton, allowing the stem to grow freely with support. On the other side of the shell, the stem with the leaves unfolded. All this from a red bean, the water, and the sun—a beautiful transformation.

During seed germination, the growing plant absorbs nutrients from the seed, and once the roots are long enough, they draw additional nutrients from the ground (but not in my case). Once the roots are fully formed, they are also able to draw water. But where do the extra cells come from? Not just from the water?

Plants, with the help of sun energy, absorb the carbon dioxide gas and release a by-product known as oxygen. The carbon molecules form plants cells. The sun, in addition, helps form other nutrients for the plant. All this is done with the help of solar energy, a process also called photosynthesis. So this is my simple explanation of the simple transformation from a red bean to the green plant you see in the photo. There is more to it, but if I go into all the details, this post will be a botany lesson. On a side note, I attempted to do the same with onions and quinoa—not very successful experiments. Barley, chickpeas, and green peas are next (smile)—or - or what ever I will find in my pantry.

Let's see how far my plant grows. If I am successful and it starts flowering, I may have some beans. I am glad that I do not need any honey bees or insects to pollinate the bean plant. Beans have self-pollinating flowers. Lucky me, because I do not want to be attacked again by an army of flies. Something that happened to me a few years ago.

However, as I see this red bean growing in front of my eyes, I still wonder about many things.

I wonder. How does the red bean know to produce another red bean, and how does it know to have roots, then a stem, then leaves, and then flowers? How does it know to die after a few months of working hard and grow back again from the produced seed? And how about the seed that has been packaged and stored in a sealed plastic bag for months, yet after being exposed to water, it is able to produce a plant? It is all part of the genetic code, just like a computer code. I guess programming was very well known before we even existed. Just in a different form. Who in the world orchestrated all this? How? Why?

Tough questions, but then, by the end of the day, we just have to say what Frank Lloyd Wright said: "Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you." And I will add: "Photograph nature."

~ Anna

[Previously published on My Only Photo Journey Blog]