Title: Soil moisture
Content:  slaking. The rate at which a soil can absorb water depends on the soil and its other conditions. As a plant grows, its roots remove water from the largest pores (macropores) first. Soon the larger pores hold only air, and the remaining water is found only in the intermediate- and smallest-sized pores (micropores). The water in the smallest pores is so strongly held to particle surfaces that plant roots cannot pull it away. Consequently, not all soil water is available to plants, with a strong dependence on texture. When saturated, the soil may lose nutrients as the water drains. Water moves in 
Title: Soil moisture
Content:  Of equal importance to the storage and movement of water in soil is the means by which plants acquire it and their nutrients. Most soil water is taken up by plants as passive absorption caused by the pulling force of water evaporating (transpiring) from the long column of water (xylem sap flow) that leads from the plant's roots to its leaves, according to the cohesion-tension theory. The upward movement of water and solutes (hydraulic lift) is regulated in the roots by the endodermis and in the plant foliage by stomatal conductance, and can be interrupted in root and shoot xylem vessels by cavitation, also called xylem embolism. In addition, the high concentration 
Title: Pore space in soil
Content:  Infiltration is the process by which water on the ground surface enters the soil. The water enters the soil through the pores by the forces of gravity and capillary action. The largest cracks and pores offer a great reservoir for the initial flush of water. This allows a rapid infiltration. The smaller pores take longer to fill and rely on capillary forces as well as gravity. The smaller pores have a slower infiltration as the soil becomes more saturated{{dn|date=February 2020).
Title: Absorption of water
Content:  the root and the soil water. The solute potential of xylem water is more in comparison to that of soil and correspondingly water potential is low than the soil water. If stated, water potential is comparatively positive in the soil water. This gradient of water potential causes endosmosis. The endosmosis of water continues until the water potential both in the root and soil becomes equal. It is the absorption of minerals that utilise metabolic energy, but not water absorption. Hence, the absorption of water is indirectly an active process in a plant's life. Active transport is in an opposite direction to that of diffusion.
Title: Soil moisture
Content:  plants may draw from the soil is called the available water. Once the available water is used up the remaining moisture is called unavailable water as the plant cannot produce sufficient suction to draw that water in. At 15 bar suction, wilting point, seeds will not germinate, plants begin to wilt and then die unless they are able to recover after water replenishment thanks to species-specific adaptations. Water moves in soil under the influence of gravity, osmosis and capillarity. When water enters the soil, it displaces air from interconnected macropores by buoyancy, and breaks aggregates into which air is entrapped, a process 
Title: Soil water (retention)
Content: Soil water that is not retained or used by plants may continue downward through the profile and contribute to the water table (the permanently saturated zone at the base of the profile); this is termed "recharge". Soil that is at field capacity (among other reasons) may preclude infiltration so to increase overland flow. Both effects are associated with ground and surface water supplies, erosion, and salinity. ; Soil water can affect the structural integrity or coherence of a soil; saturated soils can become unstable and result in structural failure and mass movement. Soil water, its changes over time and management are of interest to geo-technicians and soil conservationists with an interest in maintaining soil stability. The role of soil in retaining water is significant in terms of the hydrological cycle; including the relative ability of soil to hold moisture and changes in soil moisture over time:
Title: Soil moisture
Content:  draining field under the influence of pressure where the soil is locally saturated and by capillarity pull to drier parts of the soil. Most plant water needs are supplied from the suction caused by evaporation from plant leaves (transpiration) and a lower fraction is supplied by suction created by osmotic pressure differences between the plant interior and the soil solution. Plant roots must seek out water and grow preferentially in moister soil microsites, but some parts of the root system are also able to remoisten dry parts of the soil. Insufficient water will damage the yield of a crop. Most of the 
Title: Soil salinity control
Content: Infiltration of rain and irrigation water (Irr) into the soil through the soil surface (Inf) : ; Inf = Rain + Irr ; Evaporation of soil water through plants and directly into the air through the soil surface (Evap) ; Percolation of water from the unsaturated zone soil into the groundwater through the watertable (Perc) ; Capillary rise of groundwater moving by capillary suction forces into the unsaturated zone(Cap) Inf + Cap = Evap + Perc    or : ; Irr + Rain + Cap = Evap + Perc Irr.Ci + Cap.Cc = Evap.Fc.Ce + Perc.Cp + Ss Perc.Le.Cd = Irr.Ci + Cap.Cc Lr = (Irr.Ci + 
Title: Absorption of water
Content:  In higher plants water is absorbed through root hairs which are in contact with soil water and from a root hair zone a little the root tips
Title: Hydrology
Content:  Infiltration is the process by which water enters the soil. Some of the water is absorbed, and the rest percolates down to the water table. The infiltration capacity, the maximum rate at which the soil can absorb water, depends on several factors. The layer that is already saturated provides a resistance that is proportional to its thickness, while that plus the depth of water above the soil provides the driving force (hydraulic head). Dry soil can allow rapid infiltration by capillary action; this force diminishes as the soil becomes wet. Compaction reduces the porosity and the pore sizes. Surface cover increases capacity by retarding runoff, reducing compaction and other processes. Higher temperatures reduce viscosity, increasing infiltration.

Question: what happens to water that infiltrates the soil if it is not absorbed by the roots of plants?
Answer: runoff.