Three things matter when a seed sprouts: water, air, and the right temperature. In an experiment where you change one thing and keep everything else the same, you find that a seed can sprout without soil, sunlight, or fertilizer. A sprouting seed uses the starch stored inside it, and the seed leaves shrink after it sprouts. Iodine solution shows that the stored food is starch. To grow well after sprouting, though, a plant also needs sunlight and fertilizer.
Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said on September 30 that some vegetables will cost more than usual in October. The ministry is the part of the Japanese government that looks after farming and food.
Scientists in Japan have solved a plant puzzle that was 30 years old. They found out what a small "gate" in plants does.