Radish Seeds

INTRODUCTION

A seed is a fertilized ovule that contains an embryo and transforms it into a new plant through the process of germination. Seeds remain inactive until conditions are right for germination. All seeds need water, oxygen, and proper temperature in order to germinate. However, some seeds require full light or darkness to germinate. According to Holm (1996) seeds have chemical inhibitors that prevent germination. A seed will not grow unless those inhibitors are destroyed by things like temperature changes, moisture, and sunlight. These conditions combine in infinite ways, making each plant's germination needs different. The first sign of germination is when the seed absorbs the water. Water and oxygen are taken in through the seed coat causing the embryo's cells to enlarge. The seed coat breaks open and a root emerges first, followed by the shoot or plumule that contains the leaves and stem (Campbell 2004).

We performed an experiment on wheat seeds to examine how the concentration of Miracle Grow affected the germination of the seeds. Vitamins provide extra nutrients to people like fertilizers do for seeds. If one exceeds the recommended dose of vitamins ones health is in danger and if one takes less than the recommended dose, the body will not receive any extra nutrients. The same is true for seeds, more than the recommended amount will kill the seeds and less than the recommended amount will have no effect. Therefore, we hypothesized that if wheat seeds are given the recommended amount of Miracle Grow then the highest percentage of seed germination will be obtained, compared to seeds with a higher or lower concentration of Miracle Grow or water.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A test was performed on wheat seeds containing different concentrations of miracle grow to determine there rate of germination. The control group for this experiment consisted of distilled water. There were three different concentrations of miracle grow: recommended, two times recommended and half times recommended. Each different solution contained two sets of fifty wheat seeds. The wheat seeds were placed on petri dishes containing one sheet of filter paper. The seeds were then watered with their corresponding concentration of miracle grow or with distilled water. Enough Miracle Grow or distilled water was used so that the seeds and filter paper were soaked, but not excessively. Each petri dish was labeled with the concentration of Miracle Grow or distilled water the seeds contained. Each day for one week the process of the seeds germination was recorded. Also, the wheat seeds were watered with the corresponding solution when needed.

RESULTS

The results of this experiment show that the same results were found for the recommended amount of Miracle Grow and the control group, both seeds having 83% germination. The seeds containing half of the recommended amount had 72% seed germination. While, the two times recommended concentration of Miracle Grow came closest to the recommended amount and the control group with 82% seed germination. The seeds did not start to germination until the second day. On day two the control group had a 23% germination, the half times recommended had 29% germination, the recommended amount had 36% germination and the two times recommended had a 32% germination. On day three the germination of the seeds was very similar to day two, with the half times recommended and the recommended amount of Miracle Grow having the highest percentages of germination. The percentages of seed germination on the different concentrations of Miracle Grow changed on day four. The percentage of seed germination increase for the two times recommended amount and decreased for the half times recommended amount of Miracle grow. It was from day five to day seven that the control group and the recommended amount of Miracle Grow had the same percentage of seed germination.

DISCUSSION

This experiment proved that Miracle Grow does not have a great effect on the germination of wheat seeds. The purpose of this experiment was to determine if the seeds containing more than the recommended concentration of Miracle Grow would die before the seed germinated and to see if the seeds containing less than the recommended concentration would not help the seed to germinate faster. Therefore, determine whether the recommended concentration was ideal for a seed to germinate. The results show that seeds do not need a fertilizer