AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE

RESEARCH PAPER

Name: Geselle Dick

Class: Form Five (5) science
Subject: Agricultural- Science
Teacher: Ms. Burnette
Date: 23rd January, 2016
Page of contents

Title and Aim..........................................................................2

Introduction.3

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Abstract.......................................................................2
Literature review.....................................................................2-3
Methodology............................................................................3-5
Results /Data Analysis............................................................5-10
Discussion ...............................................................................10-11
Conclusion...............................................................................12
Recommendation.....................................................................12
Bibliography...........................................................................12-13
Reference13

Title: To compare the growth rate of three lettuce plants using three
unlike mediums; sawdust, coal and a liquid medium.

Aim: The aim of the experiment investigate which medium would best promote the
fastest growth.

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 Introduction
The purpose of this research was mainly to identify the difference of lettuce plants
in hydroponics with the use of three different mediums; sawdust, water and
charcoal. The results of this project proved that hydroponics is a faster, easier and
more efficient way to grow lettuce seedlings. The seedlings were noticed to be
growing twice as faster compared to when grown normally. The researcher had a
negative mindset as to what the outcome of this research would be, however the
results have proven to be quite different from what she had expected.

ABSTRACT
This experiment was set out to carry out a research on the effectiveness of growing
plants with other mediums instead of water to test the effectiveness of hydroponics.
Then after realizing the goal of the experiment, the growth of the plants were
observed and compared to see whether one medium reacts better to hydroponics
better than the other. The theory was proven successful and a number of extensive
research was connected to the experiment all surrounding hydroponics.

Literature review
If you give a plant exactly what it needs, when it needs it, in the amount that it
needs, the plant will be as healthy as is genetically possible. With hydroponics this
is an easy task; in soil it is far more difficult.- Washington, Mills book: The great
Art of Agriculture (1993)

If you grow two genetically identical plants using soil for one and hydroponics for
the other, you will almost immediately see the difference this factor makes. Faster,
better growth and much greater yields are just some of the many reasons that
hydroponics is being adapted around the world for commercial food production as
well as a growing number of home, hobby gardeners.

In a well-balanced hydroponics system, a plant can receive almost everything it

needs. Sunlight is never the limiting factor in a growing system, this is because the
amount of energy hitting a given piece of land is absolutely gigantic. The best crop

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we can do right now by way of photosynthesis is genetically engineered corn, and
it still only uses ~0.3% of yearly sunlight. Therefore, the limiting factors are water
and nutrients. An awesome hydroponic system will provide these limiting factors
for these plants.- Lewis, Chrissys book: Stabilization of the Growth of
Agriculture for the Future Generation (1880)

Growing medium is the material in which the roots of the plant are growing. This
covers a vast variety of substances which include Rockwool, perlite, vermiculite,
coconut fiber, gravel, sand, sawdust, charcoal, styro-foam and many more. The
growing medium is an inert substance that doesn't supply any nutrition to the
plants. All the nutrition comes from the nutrient solution (water and fertilizer
combined). You can therefore, easily control everything the plants receive. The
strength and pH of the nutrient solution is easy to adjust so that the plants receive
just the right amount of food. The watering/feeding cycles can be controlled by an
inexpensive timer so that the plants get watered on schedule, as needed.

Methodology
1. The materials were diligently gathered, these included; six large bowls
(preferably transparent), eighteen lettuce seedlings, the three mediums
chosen; (water, sawdust and charcoal), three needed nutrients namely
abstract A (macro nutrients; Nitrogen, Potassium and Phosphorous), B (trace
elements) and C (calcium nitrates).

2. Four containers were filled to the brim with the three media, each of the
medium were replicated twice in two similar designated containers.
3. They were moistened afterwards to facilitate for the transplanting of the
delicate lettuce seedlings.
4. Four lettuces were planted in each container
5. A composite liquid fertilizer was used to provide nutrients to plant on a daily
basis for six additional weeks. The composite fertilizer contains A (5ml per

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 liter), B (2.5ml per liter) and C (5ml per liter), respectively in 1 litre of
water.
6. Each container was then pressed down to ensure the plants would be secure
enough to anchor the plants.

7. Holes were made for the seedlings, which were successfully transplanted.
8. For the liquid, the abstracts and water mix were added to the two last
containers about half the container leaving space for the roots to respire
9. Styrofoam was cut to fit within the bowl, spaces for the seedlings were also
made and a sponge was placed into the holes to anchor the plants.

10.After the seedlings were transplanted into all of the six containers they were
placed in a suitable area so they could gain sun but still not too much.
11.Data on growth parameters (leaf length, leaf width and number of leaves)
were collected from the plants each week for six week.
12.All data were input into Microsoft excel for analysis
13.Data were analyzed for means of growth parameters among the treatments
using Analysis of Variance utilizing a statistical software Statistix 10. This
was done to determine which treatment performed the best and can be
recommended.
Data Results
Tables

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 Week
Treatme 1 2 3 4 5
nt
Charcoal 4 5 6 8 9
Liquid 4 5 6 9 10
Sawdust 3 4 4 5 6
Width

Figure 1 above shows the comparison of the number of leaves between the three
mediums.
Week
Treatment 1 2 3 4 5
Charcoal 5 6 6 6 6
Liquid 5 6 6 6 7
Sawdust 5 5 5 5 5
Number

Figure 2 above shows the comparison of the number of leaves between the three
mediums.
Week
Treatme 1 2 3 4 5
nt
Charcoal 5 8 10 11 12
Liquid 5 8 9 14 18
Sawdust 5 6 7 8 11
Length

Figure 3 above shows the comparison of the number of leaves between the three
mediums
Bar Graphs

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 Numbers
7
6
5
4
Number of leaves 3
2
1
0
Charcoal Liquid Sawdust

Treatment

Figure 4 above shows the comparison of the number of leaves between the three
mediums.

Width
8
6
4
Width of main leaf (cm)
2
0
Charcoal Liquid Sawdust

Treatments

Figure 5 above shows the comparison of the width of the leaves between the three
mediums.

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 Length

Length of leaves

Charcoal Liquid Sawdust

Treatments

Figure 6 above shows the comparison of length of the lettuce leaves among the
three mediums.
Line Graphs

20
18
16
14
12
Length of leaves (cm) 10
Charcoal
8 Liquid Sawdust
6
4
2
0
1 2 3 4 5
Weeks

Figure 7 above shows the length of the lettuce leaves, in the three different
mediums, over a span of five weeks.

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 Charcoal
Width of leaves (cm)
Liquid
Sawdust

1 2 3 4 5
Weeks

Figure 8 above shows the width of the lettuce plants within the different mediums
over a span of five weeks.

7
6
5
4
Charcoal
Number of leaves 3
Liquid
2 Sawdust

1
0
1 2 3 4 5
Weeks

Figure nine above shows the number of leaves of the lettuce plants within the three
different mediums over s five week period.

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 Data Analysis
This analysis is the comparison among the treatments for the respective growth
parameters, number of leaves, length and width of the main leaves. It is the
analysis of variance comparing the treatments performance on the growth
parameters. Figure one indicated that the liquid media had the highest number of
leaves, length and width of leaves and the sawdust medium had the lowest in all
growth parameters.
The line graphs represent the fluctuations in the growth of each parameter through
the six weeks period. There were an increase in the growth parameters throughout
the period. However, the liquid and charcoal had higher growth in all of their
parameters each week until the termination of the experiment.
Figure 7: In week one, the length of the leaves were at a constant pace with all
plants having a total of five centimeters (5cm). However, at the end of week five,
the liquid medium produced the most growth with a total of eighteen centimeter of
growth (18cm) for leaves. Charcoal came in second, with twelve centimeters
(12cm), and finally sawdust with eleven centimeters (11cm). Overall, the liquid
medium to a huge leap above the other two mediums, while sawdust and charcoal
saw a difference of one centimeter (1cm) which wasnt as significant as expected.
In week three there was a noticeable decline in the pace of growth of leaves of the
plants in the liquid medium, however, it quickly picked up pace later on
accumulation a rise in the length of leaves above the other two mediums in week
four to five. The other two mediums kept their steady pace for the growth in length
of the leaves throughout the entire experiment.
Figure 8: In week one, the width of the leaves were at a constant pace with all
plants having a total of five centimeters (4cm), with the exception of the plants in
the sawdust medium which all had leaf widths of three centimeters (3cm).
However, at the end of week five, the liquid medium produced the most growth
with a total of ten centimeter of growth (10cm) for its leaves width. Charcoal
came in second, with nine centimeters (9cm), and finally sawdust with six
centimeters (6cm) in width of leaves. Overall, the sawdust mediums leaves took
the longest to stretch out in comparison to the other two mediums, while the liquid
and charcoal saw a difference of one centimeter (1cm) which wasnt as significant
as expected, however it was a greater margin above the sawdust medium which
carried a smaller measurement. In week three to four there was a noticeable rise in
the pace of growth of leaves in terms of its width for plants in the liquid medium. It

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quickly picked up pace with the charcoal medium which was growing at a steady
but good enough pace and took a better stretch by one centimeter (1cm) above it.
The sawdust medium also kept a steady pace for the growth in width of the leaves
throughout the entire experiment, however it was slower than expected when
compared to the other mediums.
Figure 9: In week one, the number of the leaves were at a constant pace with all
plants having a total of five centimeters (5cm). However, at the end of week two,
the liquid medium and charcoal medium jumped one number to a count of six
leaves while sawdust remained at five leaves. The strange thing about the change
in week is that sawdust remained with a count of five leaves at the end of week
five. However, at exactly the end of week five, the liquid medium jumped up a
notch and gained a count of seven leaves, while charcoal stayed constant with its
six leaves. This suggests that notion that the leaves plants did little to no amount of
production of new leaves.
Overall, the liquid medium proved to be the most effective of the three, while
charcoal came in second and then sawdust. The experiment also showed that in
order for hydroponics to work, one must be quite particular about the medium
used, although it is proven to be quite effective.
Discussion
The word, Hydroponic, comes from Latin and means working water. Simply put,
it is the art of growing plants without soil.
When most people think of hydroponics, they think of plants grown with their
roots suspended directly into water with no growing medium. This is just one type
of hydroponic gardening known as N.F.T. (nutrient film technique). There are
several variations of N.F.T. used around the world and it is a very popular method
of growing hydroponically. What most people don't realize is that there are
countless methods and variations of hydroponic gardening.

Hydroponics can be as incredibly simple as growing a single plant in a hand

watered bucket or nursery pot, using any number of inert growing mediums. No
automation, electricity or grow lights required.

Of course, the potential to go high tech is limited only by your imagination and
budget. Virtually every aspect of garden management can be automated and should

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you so desire, monitored and controlled with your laptop or cell phone from the
other side of the world. Dare to dream.

Most hobby oriented hydroponic systems are somewhere between the two
extremes mentioned above. The average, home hydroponic system usually consists
of a few basic parts: a growing tray, a reservoir, a submersible pump to water the
plants, a simple timer and an air pump and air stone to oxygenate the nutrient
solution. Of course, light (either natural or artificial) is also required.

The Experiment carried out by the researcher observing the effective of

hydroponics by using three different mediums:
All three (3) areas of the research (number of leaves, length of leaves and width of
leaves) are different from one another. It was clear to see that the length of the
lettuce leaves did not show any similarities. This allowed the researcher to a
conclusion that the lettuces were growing at a different rate with the liquid base in
the liquid followed by charcoal and lastly, in the sawdust. Similar conclusions can
be made for the width of the leaves over the five week period.
There are 2 groups (A and B) in which the means are not significantly different
from one another. She also noticed while analyzing the data, that the leaf number
of charcoal and the liquid base over the five week period were shockingly very
close. The liquid base being just 0.1 above charcoal, unfortunately the same cannot
be said for sawdust which was way lower than the two.
The liquid base showed to do better than the rest.
Reasons for this included; not all the roots were immersed in the liquid base,
therefore it allowed for root aeration, nutrients were always available for the plants
unlike the rest which constantly needed to be watered. Water logging more than
likely occurred which blocked the roots from respiring this may have been
detrimental to the growth. The sawdust showed to be thin and powdery this feature
led to the saturation, caching and compaction of the roots and didnt allow for
much aeration.
With any hydroponic system, and/or any type of growing media, the goal is still the
same. You just need the roots to be moist, not soggy and saturated. If the growing
media is saturated and soggy, the roots will suffocate from lack of oxygen. That
situation can easily lead to roots dying, and root rot. The liquid medium perfectly

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catered for all of the plants needs above the other two mediums, and that is why the
performance of lettuce growth produced by it exceeded the other two mediums.

Conclusion
In conclusion, we can say that the liquid medium did the best by gaining the
highest mean growth followed by the charcoal medium and lastly the sawdust
medium.

Recommendations

A) Ensure that extra nutrients and water is added to all the plants (liquid
version also) on a daily basis because the water is readily evaporated and
taken in by the roots of the plants.

B) The liquid version is most recommended, this is so because it utilizes less

of the nutrients. The nutrients mixed well with the water unlike the other
solid mediums which did not always allow for all of the nutrients applied
to reach the roots.

Bibliography
a) Name of Article: Growth Technology: Hydroponics
Author: Dax Sears
Address: http://www.growthtechnology.com/growtorial/what-is-hydroponic-
growing/
b) Name of Article: Hydroponics At Home for Beginners
Author: Leslie Coleman
Address: http://www.instructables.com/id/Hydroponics---at-Home-and-for-
Beginners/
c) Name of Article: Hydroponics Information

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 Author: Johnathan Elias
Address: http://www.hydroponicsfarming.com/Hydroponics-
Information.html
d) Name of Article: Hydro-Agriculture: Understanding Hydroponics
Author: Researcher at MIT
Address: http://web.mit.edu/12.000/www/m2015/2015/hydro_agriculture.html
Name of Book: Commercial Hydroponics, Third Edition

Reference
The literature review was taking quotes from:
1. Name of Book: The great Art of Agriculture (1993)
Author: Washington, Mills
Article: Why is Hydroponics Important?
Page Number: 25-25 of 25-32
2. Name of Book: Commercial Hydroponics, Third Edition (1880)
Author: Lewis, Chrissy
Article: An Introduction to the World of Hydroponics;
What it is, History; How plants grow; Classification of hydroponic
systems; Overview of the industry; Why practice hydroponics?
Page Number: 15-15 of 15-30

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