Plant Bio Final

(A94422896) YongSuk Lee November 20, 2008 BICD 120

BICD 120 Plant Growth Report

I received roughly 10 of each corn, monocot, and red bean, dicots, seeds from the professor Schmidt. Most of them germinate after 5 days in watered kitchen towel in Ziploc. The length of the plant at that time was approximately from 2cm to 4cm. Ones that were growing faster than others were moved to the pot (plastic cup) on October 19th. I used to Hyponex plotting soil that was sold in Wal-mart. There are four pots in total, two for corn and the other two for red beans. Each pot received two plants. The pots were placed on top of the balcony’s fence. They are placed close to each other so that they get stress equally except for the stress for the experiment. The sun coming into the balcony is limited, only for 5-6hours in the afternoon. I have cut the side of the top of the cup, so that the plant will receivethe sunlight better. I watered the plants three to four times a day. For four days I grew all four pots normally untilthe newly germinated plant get used to the new environment in the pot. Then after, the two pot of each plant type received stress to test its reacted behavior. The other pots of each seeds grewnormally. The stress was made by diluting synthetic detergent to the water that I gave to the two selected pots. Since the detergent is very concentrated. Only two to three drops of detergent was added to a cup of water. My hypothesis is simply that the plant with stress will grow less.

For about a month, the plants received the stress were monitored everyday and results from the stress was recorded. The effect of the detergent diluted to the water for the plant was very simple. The plant just don’t grow as much then later it appeared dead. The plant normally grew was growing normally. But, the normal plant could not grow was much. The reason being is that limited sunlight. Also, my roommates have habit of smoking cigarette in the balcony which probably has affected the plant. However, the reason for the death of the plant watered with diluted detergent is that detergents have the foaming agent such as sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) or sodium lauryl sulphate which can cleave the protein molecules present in the cells converting them into peptides by breaking the chemical bondings. Detergents got rid of a layer protecting the root hairs, and the root hairs absorbed the detergent instead. Because the plant no longer has any water or nutrients, it died. Moreover, I found that the pot that I used, a plastic cup, is way too small for the plants. The root reached the bottom of the pot was trying to grow deeper into the ground but got stuck on the bottom of the cup. That is another reason why the normally watered plant could not grow was much. But the result that I got until the plant start growing slower was corresponding to my hypothesis.