Objectives/Goals
The objective of my project is to determine if the amount of aeration has any effect on plant production.
Methods/Materials
I am using a stone that will aerate the water with various amounts of time. I am using vermiculite as a
growing medium in five different containers. I built screened boxes to hold the vermiculite medium to set
inside the container. In four of the containers, I placed an aeration stone. I added water to each of the
containers and planted each container with the seeds.
In the control group, I will use the same amount of growing medium in each growing container. I will
place the seeds one and one-half inches apart. I will record the germination rate. Then I will allow the
plants to grow for twelve weeks before I harvest the plants for weight, the length of the taproot, the height
of the plant and the diameter of the taproot and stem of the plant.
The experimental variables that I am using are the varying amounts of aeration that is added to the water.
· Three hour aeration period
· Six hour aeration period
· Twelve hour aeration period
· Twenty-four hour period
Results
The average days of germination was eight and one-half days in all groups (aeration and control group).
The average height of the plant is twenty-nine and one-half centimeters tall. The difference between the
plants that are aerated and the control group is eight and three-quarters centimeters taller in height. The
average length of the plant taproot is twenty-three and eights-tenths centimeters long. The difference
between the plants that are aerated and the control group is one and three-quarters centimeters longer. The
average width of the plant taproot is fifty-two thousandths. The difference between the plants that are
aerated is five thousandths. The average width of the plant stem is one hundred twenty-five thousandths.
The difference between the plants that are aerated is eighteen thousandths. The average weight of the
plant is two and five tenths of a gram. The difference between the plants that are aerated is thirty-five
hundredths of a gram. The more aeration that is given to a plant after germination, the larger and healthier
the plant will become than plants with less or no aeration.
Conclusions/Discussion
My conclusion on adding aeration to growing plants hydroponic