Even a good and thriving seedling can die from inattention or poor care. Ground can “become barren” through lack of fertilizer or adequate water. It can also be choked by weeds, although Alma does not use that metaphor. If the farmer does not tend the plant, it will never bear mature fruit. The farmer’s reason for planting will be thwarted, not because of the seed but because of the farmer’s inattentiveness.
Alma blends one agricultural analogy with another. This is no simple fruit tree but the ultimate tree of life. Alma stresses the analogy: This is a way to grow faith until it becomes a tree of life. The gospel promises this eternal life, not just in enduring through time but in the quality of the life throughout time and eternity. It is the tree of life for which they have watch-care. Should they neglect its care, it is eternal life that they will discard. Alma warns them against destroying the most valuable of results by inattention to the beginnings.