an afternote

oh and i forgot to mention that once again terrential rain has got to my plants which is another error i will talk about in my report discussion as it will effect results

...

A day time picture from the front:


and from the top:


and this picture is from the back showing how the plants are leaning towards the sun as mentioned in the previous post:


and the final picture is an arial view of the 2nd lot of plants for the repeated experiment:


The current heights are:
for the original 7cm
overwatered: 8cm
normal: 11 cm and underwatered: 9cm

for the 2nd experiment (batch 2):
overwatered: 2 cm
normal: 3 cm
underwater: 2.5 cm

all plants are healthy and green and i definitely think thining them/ not putting as many in the pot was a good idea :)

Some more photos!

So this is what the plants currently look like. Not much has changed over the past few days but the overwatered plant has grown almost a cm in the past 3 days and so has the underwatered plant but the normally watered plant hasn't grown very much at all. So in summary: the normal and overwatered plant started growing the fastest both sprouting and growing greenery however the overwatered plant slowed down completely and whilst the normal plant continued to grow fairly steadily, the overwatered slowed down almost stopping and is still currently smaller (however in the past few days it has begun to catch up). Then the underwatered plant; it was slow to start growing and started shooting a day later but over the past few days (as documented) has had a massive growth sprut and overtaken both plants to be the tallest and most volumous. Also I haven't been home in daytime at all this week so that is why the pictures are in the dark but this weeekend ill take more during day time so that the pictures are clearer. I'd also like to note that the plants are growing towards the sun as they are leaning in the direction of most light (i'll take some pictures to show this later as well).



And this is an arial view of them :)

Oh and this is there current heights - theyr growth has slowed down now on the 12th day:
overwatered (far right) is 6.5 cm
the normal (middle) is 7.5 cm
and the underwatered is 8.5 cm

Update!!

Hey, so it’s been a while but here’s a rundown of what happened:
So literally over night on the 7th night, the under watered plant had a MASSIVE growth spurt and went from severely shorter and fewer than the other to, to being the tallest, most plentiful plant. The overwatered plant is now the shortest and least plentiful plant. The controlled water plant is slightly shorter than the under watered plant and is pretty plentiful.
Personally I think this experiment is going disastrous!!! MY UNDERWATERED PLANT (which yes is definitely under watered) HAS GROWN THE MOST!!! IT’S NOT DIEING!!!!!!!!!!! Eugh what a disaster! Also I’m thinking that I might need to thin out the plants to? There are waay to many seedlings growing for the size of the pot so they are all crowded and pushing out the top of the pot.
I have also started my second experiment- so I’m repeating it, but I’ve changed the experiment so that there are exactly 18 seedlings placed in the pot instead of dividing the packet by three. The 18 seedlings are spread out so that they all have their own room to grow.

Up to Day 5

Unlike Day two and three, where although very close between the normal and overwater plants, the over watered plant was sprouting more, the normal watered plant is now producing/ growing more- as seen in the pictures there is more green evident :). the underwatered plant is still behind in development but has also started producing the greenery (i need to research what the proper term is as they have now gone beyond sprouting).

here is a picture of the 3 plants in comparison to each other (left= underwatered, middle = normal amount and the 3rd = overwatered)


and a close up of the over watered one to give you an idea of what these little shrub looking things actually look at (because of lighting reasons i couldn't get a clear shot of the other palnts so that is why i've included this picture- all plants look the same they just vary in quantity

Pictures :)

how the experiment should be set up :)



Day 2- the plants were already sprouting


end of Day 3- even the underwatered plant is begining to sprout

:O rain!

today it poured! from yesterday night through this morning and all day today it poured!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so my plants are undercover by the veranda roof but the rain has still come in a bit and hasn't drenched and flooded them but has got to them. so that will probably effect my results and will be included as an error in my report discussion. the plants are further developing and shooting up more, even the underwatered plant is beginning to shoot up! even though this has occurred 2 days after the other 2 plants.

Some minor adjustments to my method-mainly equipment:
i am doing the experiment twice through to make the results fairer
each pot plant is 100 mL
the light is filtered light. there is a perspex roof over the verandah which the plants are on providing filtered sunlight- this roof has provided very handy for example keeping out most of the rain today
and as i said in my previous post, i have decided on set amounts of water to give each plant every day.
:)

Progress

ok so im having maaajjooorrr technical difficulties with my laptop so im having to use my dads at the moment which means i can't put up a few photos of my experiment so far like i was hoping to but dw they'll be on hear soon.
So a run down:
by day 2 in the normal and overwatered plants the seeds were shooting and becoming visable at the top of the soil. by the 3rd day (which i have a picture for) there was definitely progress and the shoots had shot more and many more were visable in the normal and overwatered pot however i'm yet to see anything from the underwatered plant.

An adjustment i have made to my method is to water once a day not twice as i wrote below. Also i have decided to use the following measurements for watering to keep the experiment more controlled and ensure the plants are receiving the same amount of water every day; the overwatered plant is receiving 100 ml of water each day (the water is hust under pouring out of the bottom), the regular plant is receiving 50 ml (water is gradually seeping out the bottom) and the underwatered plant is receiving 25 ml and no water is coming out from the bottom.

thats all for now! sorry for the lack of pictures!

Finishing Touches for Blog Submission 2 :)

http://www.ent.iastate.edu/images/plantpath/soybean/topdieback/topdiebackleaves.jpg

Ok here is my final aim: to investigate the effects different quantity's of water have on a plant's growth and health.

And i've also included a picture of dieback which occurs in both under and over watered plants- a healthy plant shouldn't have it. as you can see at the edge of the leaf, the green is turning brown and yellow and crinkling up and dieing. This is what i have to look out for in the under and over watered plants because it is the earliest sign that somethings not right with the plant :) just thought i'd include a picture so everyone knows what im talking about when i refer to dieback

Close Up

I couldnt get a clear shot of my climate graph so ive included this close up for the temperature part as it came out blurry becuase my camera suks :(

Climate Graphs

My climate graphs- i included a close up of the other two cause i couldn't get a clear picture so yeh thats only to be cautious :)

Plan of Action

So I’m starting my experiment today – I no I’ve left this late but I just couldn’t make up my mind on a suitable project. From here I’m going to aim to blog 3 times a week at least and update photo!
I have palnted all my raddish seeds and have begun watering!!

The experiment has officially started!

Some background resarch WHAT TO EXPECT!!! hopefully..

Hey again! So I’ve done some research into what I should expect from my experiment. I’ve researched the effects of water on plants and why its so important for them as well as what plants require to be healthy and all that sort of stuff but I don’t know if I should include that background information on here???

Well here’s what I’m expecting should my experiment go to plan. The 1st plant is being under watered. The 2nd just right and the third over watered. these are some extracts from the some of the sites i used that are relevant to what happens if the water balance is out and how i will be able to tell this is happening:

If there is not enough entry of water in a plant, the nutrients it needs cannot travel through the plant.

If a plant’s soil has too much water, the roots can rot, and the plant can’t get enough oxygen from the soil. A plant cannot grow if it doesn’t have healthy roots, so the proper balance of water is key when growing plants.

One of the quickest ways is to just put your finger in the soil, up to your knuckle. If the soil is moist, it has enough water; if it is dry, you need to water the plant. If the pot feels lighter than usual, or if the soil is pulling away from the sides of the pot, it needs more water.
- http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/children-in-the-garden/how-does-water-affect-plant-growth.htm

Over-watering is the most common cause of death in indoor plants. If the roots of a plant are surrounded by water, they cannot absorb oxygen. Does a plant need water or oxygen to survive? It needs both, so over-watering kills the plant by rotting the roots and preventing the plant from absorbing much needed oxygen

http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/how-to-water-a-plant.htm

Signs a plant is not getting enough water:
• Yellowing leaves or dried leaves toward the bottom of the plant. – too little water for a plant makes it conserve what little water it has by keeping the stalk green and the roots moist, but the leaves will turn yellow and wilt and eventually dry up.
• Start showing some root at the surface. The ground around the plants will be cracked, and you can be assured that your plant roots are not getting the moisture or nutrients they need to grow properly.
• The plant will eventually die.

http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/problems/under-watering.htm

The signs for an overwatered plant are:
• Lower leaves are yellow
• Plant looks wilted
• Roots will be rotting or stunted
• No new growth
• Young leaves will turn brown
• Soil will appear green (which is algae)
• The signs of plants affected by too much water are very similar to plants that have too little water


The reason plants affected by too much water is that plants need to breath. They breath through their roots and when there is too much water, the roots cannot take in gases. It is actually slowly suffocating when there is too much water for a plant

http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/problems/signs-of-plants-affected-by-too-much-water.htm

I also asked a guy working at flower power who explained the earliest signs of over watering will be dieback on the tips of the leaves.

Referencing; the methods behind my method

I used a number of methods to make up my own final one.
I based my method of planting radish seeds on this method from Garden Action
http://www.gardenaction.co.uk/fruit_veg_diary/fruit_veg_mini_project_june_1_radish.asp
However I had to modify it so that instead of sewing the seeds in a vegetable garden I planted them in pots. I also got a few facts about growing radishes which lead me to chose to grow them.

I used http://www.horticulturist.com/How%20to%20do%20things/watering.htm to make sure my directions for watering a plant were accurate- I know that sounds ridiculous but I had to find a more accurate was of saying pour water on the plants.

I also used the site: http://compost.css.cornell.edu/plantgrowth.html as a guide to create my own method but adjusted the variables mainly so that water became the independent variable.

After examining many more experiments it was mainly the 3 above I used to help me. Although I adjusted the above methods, mine is largely my own as I had to create the most appropriate method possible for my specific experiment.

How the Amount of Water Effects Plant Growth:

Hypothesis: Water increases a plant’s growth until a certain point.
Aim: To investigate if the effects of water on plant are always positive.

Equipment:
• 1 Packet of radish seeds
• 3 small plastic plant pots
• Soil
• A watering can
• Water
• Light source (sunlight)

Method:
1. Set up your 3 pots at a place outside which a) is out of the way of constant movement e.g. not in the middle of a verandah, so that they will not have to be moved and are safe from animals, b) receives an adequate amount of sunlight (allowing all 3 pots equal sunlight) and c) sheltered from strong winds
2. Fill the pots with soil up to 2 inch below the rim. Make sure that all pots are using the same soil and are filled equally.
3. Sprinkle the radish seeds thinly and evenly on top of the soil across the 3 pots.
4. Cover these seeds with an inch of soil across each of the pots. The soil level should now be 1 inch below the top of each pot.
5. Pour water in to the first pot so that half the soil is moist. *
6. Pour water into the 2nd pot until all the soil is moist and a little water comes out at the bottom. * Note: When you are watching for the water to come out of the bottom of the pot to show that all the soil is moist, be sure that it is not running down a space between the soil and the pot. If so, water a little, then wait for the soil to swell back to fill the pot.
7. Pour water into the third pot until water is flowing out of the bottom. *
8. Leave the plant alone so that the water can sink through.
9. Repeat steps 5-8 three times a day.
10. Construct a results table.
11. Record all observations about the plant and its growth in the results table on a daily basis. The observations should include the number of seeds that have germinated, plant height and observations about plant health such as color, the plant stability and condition of leaves. The number and size of leaves should also be monitored.
12. Keep all the pots in the same setting to minimize any variation in temperature, lighting, and other environmental factors, i.e. do not move the plants from their original position to maintain the controlled variables.

*It is important to add the water to the pot slowly so that it can properly soak into the soil.
** This is a draft aim and hypothesis, I still need to work on them I think x)

Discussion of Method:
The independent variable in this experiment is the amount of water used.
The dependent variables are the plants growth and health.
There are also many controlled variables such as the radish seeds, the type and amount of soil, the sunlight and temperature.

The 3 plants are in the same place all within 50 cm of each other. This is to control the amount of sunlight reaching the plants and the temperature each plant is in as controlled and constant as possible.

All three plants have been planted in the same soil which limits variation and ensures equality.

I have also chosen to use seedlings instead of young plants to enforce further control over the experiment. The problem with buying 3 pre planted plants for this experiment is that you have no control or much knowledge really before they were in your possession. So, I would have had no control on the amount of water and sunlight each had received prior to buying them or over the variation in how each had been grown. Also the plants may have been planted at different times meaning one is older than another and they may have suffered from a disease that I wouldn’t know about which could cause variation in the experiment.

I chose radish seeds because they grow quickly and thrive in cooler weather. They are also very well suited to containers as well as in the ground and very few disease effect radishes in their short growth cycle.