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Dec 6, 2023

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What is the effect of soil salinity to the growth of lima bean sprouts, specifically the growth effects over a 2-week span of growth? Introduction: Soil salinity is the biggest problem that the agricultural business and gardeners face with their plants. Soil Salinity effects the ability to keep plants hydrated. Specifically, many biologists state that the greater the salinity there is in a plant the harder it is for the plant to stay hydrated. This happens as result of when soil has more salinity in the water the plant has a harder time drawing up the water through the roots. This happens because of osmosis. Research done by Prime facts illustrates how “Under normal conditions, plants readily obtain water from the soil by osmosis (movement of water from a lower salt concentration outside the plant to a higher salt concentration in the plant). As soil salinity increases this balance shifts making it more difficult for plants to extract water,”(Podmore). Therefore, after reading all of the studies I sought out to test these studies on Soil Salinity firsthand. To test the effect salinity had on plant, I chose to use a lima bean plant, due to its popular and simplistic nature. The “ U.S. Department of Agriculture that they prize lima beans for their fast growth and easy maintenance,” (Weinblatt ). While it is easy to grow many experts say it is the least complex plant to understand anatomically what is happening. Throughout the time I am in contact with the plant I will be touching the pot to ensure zero damage to the plant. 2 Investigation: Hypothesis: H1: As Soil Salinity increases, the rate of growth of Lima bean plants will decrease. H0: As Soil Salinity decreases, there rate of growth of Lima bean plants will increase. Background Information: Proper Irrigation is essential to all plants and is of course a huge attribute to the growth of plants. Furthermore, when plants do not get proper irrigation because of soil salinity the growth can be extremely detrimental. Therefore, before experimenting the implications of soil Salinity it is important to note the specific characteristics of Lima Plants. Specifically, “ Lima bean seeds grow best when you water deeply after sowing. Once established, in the absence of rain, they need about 1/2-inch of water per week before blossoming and about 1 inch of water per week from blossom to harvest. Insufficient water during flowering and pod set will reduce the harvest because the plant will drop the flowers or pods.” (Weinblatt). Variables: Independent Variables: Soil Salinity Concentration (1 gram of salt) Dependent Variable: Rate of Growth (0.1 cm)

Controlled Variables: The Amount of Water given to each seed everyday : Every day I will water each lima bean plant with 200 ml of water. The Plants will all be located under a white light lamp to assure a consistent light source on all the seeds and plants throughout all the maturity of the plant. All lima bean plants were from the same company and the same type of lima bean plant. To assure any predetermined growth factors, we weighed all seeds to assure more validity in the study. The time of day when the readings were taken at the same time (5:00pm); this happened to ensure the time gap between records was precisely 1 day. The temperature of the environment of all the plants was 72 degrees Fahrenheit. This is within the optimal temperatures for a lima bean plant to grow. Preliminary Experiment: Apparatus:  6 small pots to place all your plants and to separate the soil salinity  Gravel or small stones to increase good drainage in bottom of pot  Perfect Mix garden soil.  Lima Been Seeds  200 ml Water.  Varying Salt concentrations  Container and spoon to mix water and salt solutions.  A warm, white light area to grow the plants, protected from pests.  Ruler  72-degree environment for plants Protocols: - Start off with adding a small layer of gravel/stones at the bottom of the pot, on top of the gravel put soil, until you reach close to 3 cm from the top of the pot. - Put 1 seeds of beans into each pot of soil, at a depth of 1cm for each seed and push soil back over hole, and firm down.

- Carefully water one pot with plain water, without disturbing the seed. This is your 'control' and will help you judge the reactions of the other plants compared with their normal growth pattern. - Prepare salt and water solutions, ranging from barely salty to saltier than sea water. The number of different strengths will depend on the number of pots you are growing. - Make sure you record how much salt to how much salt to water was included in each solution, and which plant they were used on, so that you can make more every couple of days or so, when they need watering again. - Carefully water each pot, with the 200 ml of water, of a different solution. - Keep moist, but not soggy. Make sure each day the soil feels wet after pouring the water solution. - As the plants appear- or not- record what you notice, every day. Take a photo each day, if you can, to help better track their progress. Procedures: 1. The night before planting the beans, soak the beans in a measuring beaker(s) overnight to make it easier to sprout. 2. Label 1 pot as the controlled regular water 3. Label 1 pot as 10% salinity, 1 as 20%, 1 as 40%, and one as 60% 4. Line up the pot in 1 row of 5 5. Place one cup of soil in each pot. 6. Place 1 bean in each pot, about one inch deep. 7. Water each control group with 200 mL of water, slowly poured on the surface of the soil. 8. For the 10% salinity, mix 20 g of table salt in 200 mL of water, and water each 10% salinity plant with 200 mL of the 10% saline water. 9. For 20% salinity, repeat the procedure in step 9, but with 40 g of table salt. 10. For 40% salinity, repeat the procedure again from step 9, with 80 g of table salt. 11. For 60% salinity, repeat the procedure again from step 9, with 120 g of table salt. 12. Every day, water each plant with 100 mL of water, with no salt in the control group’s water, 20g of salt in the 10% salinity, 40g in 20%, 80g in 40%, and 120g in 60%. 13. Observe and record observations each day in the lab journal until the beans sprout 14. When beans sprout, measure each sprout with a ruler every day. 15. When the first leaves grow, measure the height of the plant each day and record the number of leaves on each plant. 16. Keep all measurements in a data table and make calculations on excel.

Justification: The variance between the independent variable was issued for specific reasoning. The controlled group was made to represent the everyday gardener and elite irrigation systems at organic farms. The 10% soil salinity represented an average salinity concentration in an industrial field or in a garden with slight run off. The 20% and 40% soil salinity groups represent industrial fields with bad irrigation systems or possible run-off issues. Lastly the 60% soil salinity concentration group signifies detrimental run off issues in an irrigation system that happens as response of a salt water source being close. Furthermore, 5 separate lima bean plants were planted for each soil salinity concentration to assure accuracy of the data that was acquired. Tap water was utilized for all the soil salinity water solutions since tap water lacks any salt presence. The dependent variable was chosen because soil salinity directly influences the growth of plants. Based on research done by the US Science institute the more soil salinity presents the plants stem would become more dearth. Therefore, the height of the plant would be the best interpretation of the growth of the plant. Risk Assessment: Safety Issues: There were no safety issues to be considered. Ethical Issues: There were no ethical issues to be considered. Environmental Issues: All the plants were placed in pots to assure that there would not be runoff of the soil salinity into the ecosystem. 5.1 Raw Data Raw Data Table 1: A table showing how the height of 5 Lima Bean Plants (± 0.1cm) varies over 12 days in a 200 ml solution of water with a 0% soil salinity concentration Sample Day 3 Height (cm) (± 0.1cm) Day 6 Height (cm) (± 0.1 cm) Day 9 Height (cm) (± 0.1 cm) Day 12 Height (cm) (± 0.1 cm) 1 1.2 3.3 6.5 15.3 2 0.9 3.5 6.9 17.1 3 1.1 3.7 7.0 16.4 4 0.7 3.9 7.2 16.9 5 1.0 3.8 6.6 16.8 Raw Data Table 1: A table showing how the height of 5 Lima Bean Plants (± 0.1cm) varies over 12 days in a 200 ml solution of water with a 10% soil salinity concentration

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