Adding CO2 to night-respiring plants doesn't help. They take in CO2 and use it to form a 4-carbon organic acid. As this happens the pH of the plant drops. When it reaches a certain point the enzymes stop working. In cacti, most have absorbed all the CO2 they can before midnight.
The next morning they use the sunlight to combine the CO2 with water. The pH rises as the acid is used up. Their pores are closed so sugar production is limited by how much they absorbed the night before. Cacti are done working for the day by about 10 am.
I've been told people can taste the difference in pH during this cycle.
|
Threaded Mode
