This research aims to elucidate into the relationship
between soil contents and plants’ indeterminate growth. Specifically, soil from
four different locations will be collected, and tested correspondingly to
measure the level of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), and pH. These
soil contents that are assumed to contribute to plants’ growth.. For this
reason, this research requires instruments with the capacity to measure levels
of N, P, K, and pH in soil. The four different locations are divided into three
categories including soil from city, soil from forest, and soil from beach.
Since, there is a density of human populations in cities making it important to
be accurate on how the levels of the soil contents affects the plant's’ growth,
two soil samples will be randomly collected from cities from two different
locations including soil from Edmonds Community College and soil from
Shoreline. The soil sample collected from a forest will be collected in a
random location of Meadowdale Park. Furthermore, the soil sample collected from beach
will be collected from beach. Plant that will be utilized in this experiment
will be Zinnia.
Fertile and healthy soil is the basis for
healthy plants. This research is significance in multiple ways. Firstly, the
research experiment could help the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and
the scientists at Edmonds Community College to identify soil contents in the
soil so that they could devise solutions to control them. |
| Figure 1. Zinnia |
On Wednesday 18th May 2016, we took soil from Meadowdale Park, Seattle, EdCC, Edmonds Beach to start our research project. We used Zinnia for our experiment which is considering as fast growing plant. We made 5 categories and 3 samples for each soil which includes above four and potting soil (so total 15 pots). Before planting the plants in the pot, we did N,P,K, and pH measuring test for each soil with testing kit.
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| Figure 2. Phosphorous testing |
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| Figure 3. pH testing |
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| Figure 4. Nitrogen testing |
And then we measured total mass, length of the shoot & root, number of the leaves, color of the stem & leaves, and length of the first internode. After collecting all the data, we planted the plant to pots with each designed soil. And then we watered them each with one cup of water.
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| Figure 5. Measuring |
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| Figure 6. Planted Zinnia to various soil |
For additional experiment, we made five more pot which are to examine germination of the seeds in different condition of soil. Normal time to germinate is 10-15 days which is longer than our experiment day but we decided to do it to see what will happen. We watered them each with half cup of water. Every planted pot were placed under the light in the lab and we will going to water them on 23rd Monday and finish the experiment on 25th Wednesday.
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| Figure 7. Seed germination experiment |
Reference: https://orchidflowers.wordpress.com/2011/04/11/growing-zinnia-flowers-from-seeds/
Hello!
ReplyDeleteI like your group's experiment. I am excited to see the results, how plants grow in different condition, ways they adapt to the environment that are exposed to us. This is important because it help us to realize what we could do better for these plants that may or may not live in a scarce environment.
When I was first reading your post, I was wondering how on earth are you going to measure the amount of chemical in soil. But I guess all those smart people before us figured that out so we don't have to deal with complex chemistry every single moment of our lives. Hope you get some valid data!
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ReplyDeleteThis is kind of similar to our project wehre we are testing how tomato plant growth and transpiration is effected by soils of different pH. We have very acidic, moderately acidic same for basic, controls, and neutrals (3 of each) It will be intersting to see what other factors effect plant growth like location! I'll be looking for your poster! Good luck!!
ReplyDeleteHello!
ReplyDeleteI see someone else from my lab group already commented on your post. I'm interested in your experiment because it shares similarities with ours, as Lisa said. Now that the experiment is over, I can share that we found signs of P and Mg deficiencies in our plants depending on the pH of the soil they were planted in. The reason, we are guessing, is due to the chemistry that takes places between the cations and the charged particles (Po2 and Mg). I am eager to hear the result of your experiment!
Amy