Farewell and Best Wishes

As this research project is now in the final stages of wrapping-up, we wish to thank everyone who participated in this inquiry; the students, mentors, teachers and others behind the scenes. We appreciate all of your efforts and contributions to this online learning community.

Scientific exploration is a process of discovery that can be fun! There are many unanswered questions about plants just waiting for new scientists to consider, investigate, and share.

After the end of the session, we will be updating the platform and archiving groups and projects, after which time new updates/posts will not be able to be added to projects or groups. Please come back and visit the PlantingScience Project Gallery anytime to view this project in the future. You can search the Gallery by keyword, team name, topic, or school name.

Good bye for now.

Warm regards,

The PlantingScience Team

Hi Neature Lovers, 

I am so proud of the conclusions that you all reached! Science is about discovery, and it is clear to me that you guys have discovered something you weren't aware of before. There is a lot of trial and error in science, and things almost never go the way we expect it to. You guys did great in adapting to that! I hope you all had fun with your experiments because I really enjoyed following your progress! Have a good rest of your semester! 

Best, Julie 

Hello Julie,

Our experiment was not a failure, because now we know that creatine is poor for plants growth. We know that the Sodium dried out our plants. We know that we should not use any fertilizers for our future plants that have excessive amounts of sodium. Next time we will either use creatine without electrolytes. We have come to the conclusion that the electrolytes dried out the plants because of the sodium that is involved with it. If we were to do it all over again. We would simply change what brand of creatine we used. With this change I believe the experiment would turn out much better. 

Sincerely, the Neature Lovers.

Thanks, Dylan! 

It looks like the sodium is present as sodium chloride (NaCl), which is table salt. That along side all the other additional ingredients like the 1000mg electrolyte blend, and the likely inaccessible K and Mg, probably dried out the plant because of osmolarity. Most plants can't survive in brackish environments (salty water), and having so many other components in the soil would create too much of an imbalance between the plant osmolarity and soil osmolarity, so it probably prevented the roots from taking up water. This is why it is important to anticipate such issues when planning an experiment! It is also important to do ample prior research before starting! Have you looked into the effects of potassium citrate and magnesium citrate on plants? What would you do differently next time now knowing this information? 

We live and learn, and it's always a process! As long as you have an important takeaway from your experiences this time, then it's time well spent :) 

Julie 

Here is the picture

Hi Dylan, 

That is a lot of sodium! It can't be pure sodium since sodium by itself is highly reactive. It is most likely a salt and maybe in mg rather than g. What does the ingredient list say? If possible, can you take a picture of it? 

Julie 

The creatine has 100g of sodium in 2 scoops and we used about 4 scoops to create the 0.11 molar solution.  

Hi Dylan, 

It is indeed a sad day. When my plants die or are doing badly, I also hurt for them. I'm sure that you all have done the best you can for your plants! What do you think is the cause of death? Could it be the creatine? The sodium might form salts which would be bad for plants, especially vulnerable seedlings. Do you think the molarities were too high? Now that you've concluded the experiment, it's time to think back to see what could have been done differently, and with supporting evidence, what you think happened. Let me know what your takes are :) 

Julie 

Julie, today is a very sad day.

Our plants are dead. All of them except Zane and Zeb. These 2 are the ones that didn’t get any creatine. It is really sad. We killed Zane and Zeb today and measured the mass of all the plants. Got anything to say?

- the creatine is a mix of creatine and electrolytes, containing good for the plant substances like sodium, potassium, and magnesium. 

• Dylan 

Thanks for uploading the image Tate! Your seedlings are looking good! 

What type of creatine are you guys using? Do you think some other components of it might be adversely affecting the seedlings? I look forward to your update on Monday :) 

Julie 

Hello Julie, 

Project #1 is done we took the plants out of the soil but there was only one plant and there wasn't much to observe. Ex#2 is doing good I wonder if the creatine is killing the radishes, Tyrone is perpendicular to the soil and I think he is dead. We had to create a new way to cover the plants so I engineered a little thing and put saran wrap over it. We watered them today again 10 mL. I am excited to come back after the weekend just hoping they don't die. We will let you know monday morning how they are looking. 

-Dylan 

Howdy Julie, 

We have recorded measurements for all of our plants again today. Tyrone is not looking good because he is perpendicular to the soil. We didn't bottom water the plants today in hopes the soil dries out a little bit. Tomorrow we plan on checking on the plants and filling in the blue boxes on the planting science website. We gave each plant 10 mL of the designated water. That is about what is new. We had 70 degree weather last week. And today it snowed. How is the weather in Canada? 

-Dylan Heiderscheidt

Ola Dylan, 

I hope your ACTs went well! Perhaps you could plant more seeds to supplement Frank in case he doesn't make it? As for the plants falling down, it sounds like they might be etiolated, meaning they aren't getting enough light. Generally seedlings should be able to support their own weight. If they are growing too tall and spindly, one way to solve it is to add more soil around the stem to support it and give it more sunlight. The problem should solve itself with enough light! Have you taken any photos of them? It could also be due to the soil being too wet and the seedling got root and stem rot. Hopefully it's not that because that would be a death sentence. You can distinguish between the two by looking at how the stem is bending. If the seedling is basically parallel to the soil with an inflection point at the soil level but the rest of the stem looks fine, then it is most definitely the second scenario. 

Julie 

Hola Julie, 

Frank is not doing well. But Zeb, Zane, Oscar, Owen, Tyrone, Titan, Faris, Eeyor, and Erwin are all doing good. We gave each plant 10 mL of their designated solutions and this morning we bottom watered them for 2 hours. We started with 1000 mL of water and after 2 hours we dumped out 700 mL of water. We measured the plants. We are having a problem with the plants falling down. We need ideas on how to support them. 

-Dylan

That's great news about ex#2! I'm sure Frank will be fine, seedlings often vary in their height and growth in the early days. Good luck to you all on your ACT! The science portion of it was my favourite part ;) 

As for your question, I don't think I have a favorite animal! I like capybaras and sea otters because they're cute. 

Happy Monday afternoon Julie, 

Ex #2 is going great! The seeds are up, only one is behind. 9 of them are up to around 3 inches. Each plant has their own name, Zane, and Zeb are 0 molarity solutions. Oscar and Owen are 0.11 molarity solutions. Titan and Tyrone are 0.34 molarity solution plants. Faris and Frank are 0.57 molar solutions and Frank is the one that is shorter than everyone else. Eeyore and Erwin are 0.88 molarity solutions. We bottom watered them this morning and I put 10 mL of the designated solutions into the designated pots. The silicone worked really well. We are taking the ACT tomorrow, but will make sure to water them sometime. I will keep you up to date and these ones are looking so much better already. 

-Dylan 

Question of the day today is, what is your favorite animal?  

Happy Monday Dylan! 

We often have to repeat experiments after the first try doesn't go well, but you can now use everything you've learned in the first try to increase your chances of success! You guys are experiencing what being a real scientist is like! 

I hope the saran wrap trick worked for you all. Don't worry if your older seedlings are not recovering, seedlings are fickle and you've got new ones growing! You could try planting 2 seedlings in one pot when you transplant them into bigger pots. This way if one fails, you can fall back on the second one. Sort of like an insurance! 

Julie 

Konnichiwa Julie, 

We have Ex#2 planted! Ex#2 is the second round of planted radishes. 10 plants planted individually into 10 different pots. We put saran wrap over them to keep the moisture in over the weekend and when we come back Monday we will get to tend them again. The other ones are looking worse and worse but we still water them with just water in hopes that they will come back and I put saran wrap over them today also. The new seeds have all germinated but haven't popped through the soil. That is about all that is new today, enjoy your weekend and we will fill you in on what happened over the weekend on Monday.

-Dylan 

Good afternoon Julie,

Today 15 of the 20 new seeds have germinated! Our other plants above the ground are looking ROUGH. But we can’t see what is happening below ground, the suspense and hope they will do ok is driving us to keep pushing through the experiment. I have put our new pots into a tray with water to bottom feed the plants and 10 mL from the top. We have learned a lot from our “failed” experiment. Our new experiment is going to be better because we know what to change. We will keep you posted!  

 -Dylan

Bonjour Dylan :) 

You are right about science not going how it is planned! That has been one constant of science in my experience. It makes me very happy that you guys are preparing for that! To prevent drying on the weekends, you could give your plants a good bottom watering soak Friday afternoon. You could also do what I had suggested before, which is finding a clear container or lid of some sort to cover your seedlings for the weekend. It generally does a good job of preventing the moisture from escaping! If you can't find a cover, you could also wrap the pot with saran wrap that covers the soil, leaving a hole for the plant. Anything that can cover the soil surface without shading the plant would work! 

So you are an athlete! Living and working on a farm sounds very nice to me, as someone who has only lived in cities. Do you plan to become an engineer? 

My favourite desert is probably the Mojave desert. A lot of the kind of plants I study (C4 plants) are found there! 

Julie 

Good morning Julie, 

We did some qualitative observing and our plants soil is still moist, this is a good thing. We are writing in our journal and didnt water our plants today because the soil is still moist. Now we are going to take the radishes out of the water so they don’t grow mold and bugs like you said. We are going to get them on a good routine or bottom and top watering them. Do you have any suggestions on how we should water them prior to the weekend so they don’t die again? 

- Dylan

Bonjour Julie,

Longboard dancing is CRAZY and that is really cool. We have started to germinate more seeds in case these ones fail, because science doesn’t always go how it is hoped. I spend a lot of my time in school and after school I go to track practice. I enjoy throwing shots and doing flips on my pole vaulting pole. In the summer I used to work on a farm but applied for a part time engineering position. I live on a crop farm, cut trees, and hunt. 

What is your favorite kind of desert? 

-Dylan 

Hi Dylan, 

That's great news! Bottom watering is a good way to water, but just make sure you're not perpetually soaking them! The roots can get waterlogged and unwanted bugs and algae can grow there. The best way is to leave them in water for an hour or so and then drain the water. 

When I do have free time, I've been learning to play my electric guitar! Sometimes I do digital art. In the summer, I do longboard dancing (you should look it up!). What's your favourite hobby? 

Julie 

Good morning Julie, 

Some of our plants have recovered! One of our classmates had suggested that we fill the bottom tray with water so the soil can suck up water. We did that today. After watering the plants with 10 ml of water. This is all that we have done, and didn’t get time to fill in the blue boxes. What do you enjoy doing in your free time? 

- Dylan 

Hi Dylan, 

I'm sorry to hear that! Seedlings are especially vulnerable to dry soil. Feel free to water them more or keep a spray bottle around and make sure the soil surface is moist at all times. Over the weekend when you are unable to water them, you could cover them with a clear lid or such (I like to use clear deli containers over my seedlings), this helps keep the humidity high and slow down soil drying. I hope your seedlings recover! Looking forward to seeing your updates tomorrow. 

It sounds like your family really enjoy maple syrup! I will try it with my ice cream next time :) 

Julie

Good morning Julie, 

Our plants are not doing well They are water deprived and really wilted. We are watering them with 20 mL of straight water. Like you suggested earlier. I am very sad about it. Tomorrow we are going to fill out the blue boxes on the planting science website. This is keeping you up to date. 

Enjoy your day,

-Dylan

With our maple syrup we usually eat it ourselves. My grandfather sells a lot of his because they don't eat much. Last year we had made about 5 gallons of sap. It is really good on ice cream:) 

Hey y'all! 

Thanks for posting the pictures Tate! It's always a good idea to take lots of pictures as you progress through your experiment. I would suggest taking pictures of each of your treatments regularly if you guys aren't already doing so! It also looks like you guys are recording your observations in that notebook and that's awesome!

I would like to suggest that it might be a good idea to keep the entire soil surface moist if possible since seedlings can dry out very fast. It's great to hear that the radishes have begun germinating! I do have a suggestion about the creatine application. Generally seeds germinate using energy already stored within the seed itself, so creatine would not play a role here, and might actually adversely affect the seedlings. As you had described, a lot of creatine congregates together, and that might make it harder for the seedling to grow. The high molarity could also kill them in the worse case, like how you would wait a while after germinating to fertilize the seedlings with strong fertilizer. It would be best to wait until the seedlings have established a little (maybe a week or so) to start watering them with creatine, and it would most likely not affect your outcome. And just a quick question, what is the type of creatine that you are using? 

I love that you have a hypothesis now! It is logically sound and you are describing a causal relationship. Speaking of measuring mass, will you be measuring the wet mass or dry biomass? Since your hypothesis revolves around water storage, it would make sense to measure the fresh weight as well as the dry mass. This way, you can figure out if any difference in weight is because of water storage, or because of more biomass investment. For example, if one radish was 1 lbs fresh, and the second one was 0.5 lbs fresh, but both of them were 0.25 lbs dry, then you would have clear evidence supporting your hypothesis. However, if one radish was 1 lbs fresh and 0.5 lbs dry, and the second one 0.5 lbs fresh and 0.25 lbs dry, then they would have stored the same amount of water by percent of their weight. Think about it and let me know! 

Thanks for your questions yesterday Dylan! I don't eat radishes very often, but I do like daikon radishes a lot. They taste great in soup! And no, I don't personally make maple syrup hahaha. Unfortunately, I don't own a forest full of sugar maple trees, but how exciting that you guys make your own! What do you generally do with all the syrup you make? 

Julie 

Howdy Julie, 

We have watered our plants again today with 10 mL of their designated solutions. We have 5 seeds sprouted this morning. We also took the hardened soil off of the 0.88 molar pots and broke them up a lot of the plants had germinated. The only plants that haven't germinated are both of the 0.34 molar pots. We dug around a little bit but are going to give them a few more days. The first one to sprout was one of the 0.00 molar solution pot.

I hope all is going well for you and we look forward to hearing back from you. Is there anything you suggest that we should do?

-Dylan   

Good morning Julie, 

Your Neature Lovers are back in action! 2 of our seeds have germinated. 

For our hypothesis we predict that our 0.88 molar water creatine solution will produce the radishes with the most mass. We think this because when humans use creatine it stores water in our muscle cells to make them bigger. What could go wrong? 

Now after observing our plants we touched the 0.88 molarity plant and the creatine was dry and sitting on top. When we touched it there was a hardened chunk so we think that this could be bad because hard soil is hard to grow in. 

The questions of today is

Do you like radishes? 

Do you make maple syrup? 

I like radishes and make maple syrup. Our trees aren’t running very well this year. We have only gathered 75 gallons of sap and we have 55 trees tapped. 

Hello Julie,

This is what our planting setup looks like. This is what we have been working on in the past couple of days.

From, Tate

That's good to know! We have plenty of red oak trees here in Toronto too! 

Scarlet red oak is a beautiful tree, the red oak is a family of trees. Scarlet red oak is included in this family but is a more specific species. 

Good morning Dylan! 

Life in Ontario has been very pleasant these few days, it's finally feeling like spring. I'm glad to hear that you guys are doing well and I'm very impressed with your progress so far! Your experimental design is sound, and I like that you have clearly defined dependent and independent variables. I'm also glad that you guys accounted for replication as well as anticipating potential issues with germination. The next step would be to think about what your hypothesis would be, and why? Keep me updated, I'm very excited to hear about how your project goes! 

To answer your question, my favourite tree is the tamarack. Out of curiosity, what's the difference between scarlet red oak and red oak? 

Julie 

Good morning Julie, 

Today is another great day in southern Minnesota. How is life in Ontario?  We planted our cherry belle radishes yesterday. We fed them creatine yesterday and today. So you kind of know what is happening. We have planted 20 seeds in 10 different pots. We planted 2 per pot in case one seed doesn’t germinate. We have mixed our different creatine’s and put them in milk jugs. We have 5 different measurements of a 0 molarity water creatine mix. 0.11 molarity water creatine mix. 0.34 molarity water creatine mix. 0.57 molarity water creatine mix. 0.88 molarity water creatine mix. We gave the radishes 10 ml of water and we will not water them over the weekend. We have a sunlight lamp that has a 12 hour timer, we put it on. It is going really well and we are having fun. 

Our question: How does different molarity of creatine water affect the growth of cherry belle radishes? 

Independent Variables: We are changing the different molarity of creatine water to observe and see how it affects plant growth. 

Dependent Variable: We are going to measure the diameter of the radish, mass of the radish above ground we are going to measure the height of the green part. 

Control: We are keeping everything the same, same soil, same atmosphere, same amount of liquid, amount of light, same temperature. 

Question of the day: What is your favorite tree? 

Mine is Scarlet Red Oak

Tate is Colorado Blue Spruce

Jack is Norway Pine 

Connor is Red Oak  

Thank you, 

-Dylan Heiderscheidt

Hi Dylan, 

That's definitely an interesting idea! It sounds like you guys are planning to change the concentration of creatine in the water to give to plants? I also like that you have come up with other variables that you plan to keep constant! It is important to note that most commercially available creatine is for working out, and so they contain many other ingredients too. Like how you are controlling for light and temperature, in order to make sure that you are only testing the effect of creatine, you will have to use pure creatine. The next step would be to formulate your hypothesis! How do you think the creatine will affect plants, and why? For example, the creatine is an amino acid compound that contains nitrogen and is used in the regeneration of energy in animal cells. Plant cells also require energy to complete many processes. Maybe this will help the plant as supplement and so the plant will be able to either grow faster, have more leaves, or bigger leaves. On the flip side, you can hypothesize that because creatine is mostly found in animal cells, that plants will not be able to use them and will either have no effect or a negative effect on growth. You can look up information on creatine and its potential effects on plants to help you form your hypothesis! I'm excited to hear about where you guys will take this project! 

Thanks for showing me the video! It was 2:46 mins well spent and puts everything into context haha I did enjoy it very much :)