Effect of Vitamin Water on Pea Plant Germination investigation

Vitamins and minerals are believed to help in the growth and maintenance of species as well as their overall wellbeing (Mazo, Berndtson, & Prevention Health Books, 2002). However, it was unclear if the individual plant would report higher germination rates if mineral water was used instead of regular water to water during germination. As a result, the community agreed to test the above issue by germinating a pea plant in citrus vitamin water. Vitamins and minerals are essential in the growth are essential to living organisms since they serve a variety of important functions, such as the protection from diseases and infections, and additionally, maintenance of good health and state. In plants, they aid in growth and the production of better yields (United Nations Industrial Development Organization & International Fertilizer Development Center, 1998), depending on what a particular plant is depended upon. In this respect, when seeds are germinated, the medium of growth should be fortified with minerals, which can be derived from fertilizers or rich manures, additionally, vitamins further aid in the growth of the particular seedlings. The experiment hypothesized that the vitamin water would result to the increased growth rate of the pea plant since it creates an additional pool of minerals and vitamins.

Materials and methods.

The experiment that was carried out involved the experimental sample, as well as two control samples. The experimental sample included a tin that was filled with soil, and additionally, citrus vitamin water added instead of water in the process of watering. The first control experiment involved the addition of Coca-Cola in the place of water in the watering process, and lastly, the last control experiment involved the addition of normal water that is used in germination. The pea plant (Pisum sativum) was the plant that was used because we prospected that the plant records higher germination rates than most of other plants, easier to measure the growth rate and additionally, it was least expensive to us owing to its easier availability. Each of the sample experiment involved three tins, bringing the total amount of tins to 9.

First, all the tins were put on an experiment bench, where all of them received equal and same conditions with respect to lighting. In the first one week, the seeds were all germinated using water which was added to the soil. Immediately after sprouting, no more water was added to the experimental sample, but instead, vitamin water was used in the watering process. Similarly, the first control sample involved the addition of coca cola as the medium of watering. Conversely, the last sample continued the use of water in the watering process. Every other day, after sprouting, the growth rate was measured and tabulated for each of the samples. The process was continued for a period of another one week.

Results

After a period of one week, the following results were recorded.

The following table outlines the results that were tabulated for the three experiments.

Table 1: Germination Rates

Days

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Experimental sample (vitamin water) growth in centimeters.

1.9

2.0

2.0

2.0

2.0

2.0

2.0

Control sample one(coca cola)

1.9

2.1

2.2

2.3

2.5

2.6

2.7

Control sample two(water)

1.9

2.2

2.4

2.6

2.7

3.0

3.4

As observed, the experiment with citrus vitamin water showed no signs of growth after the first initial germination, because as seen from the above table, the increase in the length of the pea plant was by 0.1 from the first to the last day. The experiment that used coca-cola recorded a significant amount of growth, from 1.9 to 2.7 centimeters and the last control experiment had the highest growth rate as seen in the above table.

The growth rate can be gotten by finding the difference between the lengths of two days or the first and the last day( increase in length), divided by the initial length of the pea and lastly dividing by 100.

Discussion.

The above results can be explained using the following arguments. First, the experiment that used water recorded the highest growth rate because water did not contain growth inhibitors, and had the required contents to support normal growth, on the other hand, coca cola had growth inhibitors, though not to the same extent as the citrus vitamin water. Citrus vitamin water contains a large amount of vitamin C (Ronzio, 2009), which in other words is referred to as citric acid. The last experiment recorded no significant growth because of a variety of possible reasons as discussed below. Therefore, our hypothesis was not supported at all. First, the vitamin water might have contained a large number of nutrients, which instead of supporting growth, served to inhibit growth (Ahmad, Azooz, & Prasad, 2013). Probably, the high amounts of nutrients became poisonous to the pea plant, because of the excess of it, which additionally, served to inhibit the growth and development.

Other possible reasons include the additional salt, which increased the salinity levels (Naeem, Ansari, & Gill, 2017), in turn serving to increase the osmotic pressure in the growth medium, consequently, leading to inhibited growth because with the medium having a higher osmotic pressure than the pea plant, water uptake cannot happen, therefore resulting to weathering and dying out (Abdelmoumen, Filali-Maltouf, Neyra, Belabed, & El Idrissi, 1999). However, this does not fully support the explanation.

The experiment would have been more effective if the following measures were put in place. First, the study and the control of growth rate using stakes or poles. This would make the recording of growth rate easier because markings would be made on the pole, which would make the recording and subsequent analysis better. Additionally, there need be increased exposure to the daylight factor, which serves to trigger germination (Films Media Group, & University of Leeds, 2017) as well as increase the growth rates of each of the samples. Sunlight, as a factor, is a very important factor in the growth and development, since, after the sprouting of first leaves, it is instrumental in the photosynthesis process (Kalman, 2005), which serves to aid in the further development after the residual food in the cotyledons is depleted. The sizes of the samples need be increased, which would factor other control samples, as well as experiments and further analysis would be carried out from the same. Similarly, before the onset of the experiment, it is important to check all the conditions of the soil to ascertain that they have the right conditions, optimum for the process of growth and development to occur (Hinsinger, 2013). Conditions may differ with different soils and some of the soils serving to support no growth at all. This might be as a result of increased soil acidity (Kidd & Proctor, 2001), as well as the nutrient value of the soil, which is crucial to support the growth of plants. The experiment needs to have checked for the effect of homemade vitamin c to check if it had any significant effect on the growth of peas, which would aid in the development of a better conclusion.

Conclusion.

The vitamin C water does not support the growth and the development of peas because as seen, it serves as a growth inhibitor. Although plants require the minerals and vitamins for proper growth and development, the excess of it may be harmful, as concluded in the above discussion. There are optimum requirements as well as conditions that need be followed so as to get the required results. Water is the best in terms of growth and development since it has no inhibitors. Further studies can be carried out to find the optimum amount of vitamin c, which can support the growth and development of seedlings, especially the pea plant. This will serve to educate people, as well as become applied by farmers.

References

Abdelmoumen, H., Filali-Maltouf, A., Neyra, M., Belabed, A., & El Idrissi, M. M. (1999). Effect of high salts concentrations on the growth of rhizobia and responses to added osmotica. Journal of Applied Microbiology, 86(6), 889-898. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2672.1999.00727.x

Ahmad, P., Azooz, M. M., & Prasad, M. N. (2013). Ecophysiology and Responses of Plants under Salt Stress. New York, NY: Springer New York.

Films Media Group, & the University of Leeds. (2017). Plant Biology. (Films on Demand.

Hinsinger, P. (2013). Plant-induced changes in soil processes and properties. Soil Conditions and Plant Growth, 323-365. doi:10.1002/9781118337295.ch10

Kalman, B. (2005). Photosynthesis: Changing sunlight into food. New York: Crabtree.

Kidd, P. S., & Proctor, J. (2001). Why plants grow poorly on very acid soils: are ecologists missing the obvious? Journal of Experimental Botany, 52(357), 791-799. doi:10.1093/jexbot/52.357.791

Mazo, E., Berndtson, K., & Prevention Health Books. (2002). The immune advantage: The powerful, natural immune-boosting program to help you: prevent disease, enhance vitality, live a longer, healthier life. Emmaus, PA: Rodale.

Naeem, M., Ansari, A. A., & Gill, S. S. (2017). Essential plant nutrients: Uptake, use efficiency, and management.

Ronzio, R. A. (2009). The encyclopedia of nutrition and good health. New York: Facts on File.

United Nations Industrial Development Organization, & International Fertilizer Development Center. (1998). Fertilizer manual. Dordrecht.