Water carries essential nutrients from the roots and acts as a solvent for essential salts and minerals. Water translocates photosynthetic products from the leaves via the phloem. Water is a chemical reactant in many plant processes including photosynthesis. Water provides turgidity by supporting the structure of herbaceous plants and adding cell tugor to all plant cells. Water cools the plant during transpiration.
Water quality is important to plants.
Capillary water is used by the plants. This water moves freely in the soil and can move up and down, or horizontally. An example of capillary action can be demonstrated by dipping the end of a napkin into a glass of water and observing the water as it move up through it. This bonding is an electrical one related to the size of the soil particle and its electrical charge. The charge is opposite that of water and will attract or hold the water in the soil which makes it unavailable to the plant.