The Effect of Salt Concentration on Grass Growth Essay Example for Free

The Effect of Salt Concentration on Grass Growth Essay Our aim was to test the effect of different salinities on the growth of plants which what we did was measured different amounts of salt dissolved into 2 litres of water, watered the plant once with the salt water then for 9 days with pure ware. I found with my investigation that the less the salt, the more the growth of the plant. My aim was achieved by measuring the 5 fastest geminating (out of 20) and to measure the differences in growth of the plant. I also had a few difficulties in the duration of this experiment which were the sunlight on the plants direct which made the plants to begin to die and also the highest salinity plant was not growing. Introduction High salinity in the root zone effects the growth of many plant species (stunted growth), low salinity in the root zone affects the growth of this type of plant (higher growth) and/or no effect on both. Total growth and leaf area are affected. Different plant species may have different tolerances to salinity; in this case we are geminating mung beans, Still the high amounts of salt concentration that are present can cause the Mung beans germination rate to grow poorly and cause it to die at a faster rate. Having salt water in the roots can have an effect of less water being absorbed in which causes the plant to dry out. (1) Mung bean plants grow up to 18 to 36 inches this investigation will show if different amounts of salt (Nacl) will affect the growth of the average Mung Bean. 2)The average mung bean growth without any salt concentrations is 2 to 3 feet long. (3) This Experiment was carried out to see if Saltwater had affects to Mung beans and their growth. The Main aim of this experimental Investigation is to test the theory that Mung Bean growth is affected if there are High amounts of Salt in the water present in the plant. The 5 different parts to this experiment will be to set up 5 Groups of Mung Beans and in each one a different Salt concentration. (No salt, 1. 25g, 2. 5g, 5g, 7. g) Over a period of time they will be measured and referred back to the hypothesis to compare its relevance. It was Hypothesized that if the Salt Concentration in the water is increased then the Growth of The Mung bean will be effected and decrease from its normal growth rate. Materials and Method Five circular sheets of cotton wool was cut and put into styrafoam cups. 20 mung bean seeds were added to each cup then marked with a permanent marker â€Å"group 1-5† with amount of salt watered with. Place in a safe/dry place where sun is not directly pointing on. Next you are to make up salt solutions and measure each plant with correct salt solutions of 40ml each. For group (1) will have no salt in the water, group (2) will be watered with water that has 1. 25g salt dissolved in 2L (0. 06% NaCI w/v), group (3) will be watered with water that has 2. 5 g salt dissolved in 2L water (0. 123% NaCI w/v), group (4) will be watered with water that has 5 g salt dissolved in 2L water (0. 25% NaCI) and group (5) will be watered with water that has 7. 5 g salt dissolved in 2L water(0. 375% NaCI w/v) all of which of the same temperature. Be sure to keep a sample of the water in case your plant dies and you need to begin the experiment again. Ensure all conditions (same position with same sunlight kept on for the whole ten days, the correct level of salt is measured and correct amount of water is measured for the salt to dissolve, keep the temperature of the water the same every time you water, use the same amount of water to each which hydrates the plants, use same size containers for each group, ensure you use the same measuring equipment and measure at the same time of the day, every day). I observed the germinating seeds twice a day, once in the morning and once at night. I used a ruler to measure the height at 7:30pm for the whole ten days, recorded my results in a results table (a table to record the dater you collect in the experiment). Results Over the 10 days of this experiment, notes were made on the observations. For the first few days, the measurements and physical appearance remained average/ almost the same. Afterwards for the following measurements and remaining days, the plants started to show discoloration and group’s number, 1, 4 and 5 showed browning in the leaves and stem. For the remaining groups everything stayed the same and the measurements increased by a fair amount each day. As the last days approached, the last two groups were showing wrinkling and shrinking in the stem and leaves. The roots had died out and the plant started to bend down and eventually was laying on the bed of cotton wool in a brown color. (Measurements shown in figure 1) Discussion The final results of the experiment on the 10th day were, group 1 (0g of salt) 100mm, group 2 (1. 25g of salt) 108. 5mm, group 3 (2. g of salt) 100. 5mm, group 4 (5g of salt) 51mm and group 5 (7. 5g of salt) 46mm. The average results showing that by having more salt in the water have a chance of the plants to dry out faster is high. Having salt in the soil doesn’t always make the plants die, this is shown in the results above that the high salinity helps the growth of the plants but only by a small amount. (2) The last two groups had the least growth, showing that having high amounts of salt affects the plants ability to absorb water into the roots. 1) It has also supported that high amounts of salt can cause the plants to shrink in a small amount of time, which in the experiment the last two groups show that. Problems with the placing of the plants might have had too much sunlight coming through to maybe improve the growth of the beans, the plants didn’t have enough time to grow properly and have more further and specific results. Other days in the process it would rain but others it would be really sunny which didn’t make it very accurate because some days the plants didn’t even get to grow at all or they would die out because of the sun. The experiment could go for longer, to improve the results as they would have been different with just 10 ten days of growth, even less. The placing of the mung beans could have been chosen better, a place where there is less sunlight and less interference. The surface could have been better than just cotton wool, we could of used soil rather than wool which the beans may have grown better; or the groups could have had half soil and half cotton wool on the plate to compare which is the better choice.