experiment
materials
For the hydroponics tank (left) I have an old 10 gallon fish tank that I have modified in order to use it for hydroponics. I have an air pump and two air stones that will provide oxygen to the water. Also there is a platform made of foam that will float on the top of the water, it has four holes in the top for the plants to extend their roots down into the water. In order to prevent unwanted algae from forming on the sides of the glass there will be paper covering the sides to block the sunlight.
For the traditional gardening method (below right) I have four little ceramic pots that will be filled with soil.
The nutrient solution that I will be using in the hydroponics tank is the Dyna-Grow (bottom middle) which I got from "The Garden Doctor", a hydroponics store on 28th street. Here is their website http://mygardendoctor.com/ .
Hydroponics is soil free so the growing medium (the substance that the plants need to grow upright) that the plants will be growing in is perlite (bottom left) which is a form of obsidian that is generally used for insulation or the prevention of soil compaction. A growing medium must be used in order to hold the plants in place on the foam platform above the water.
For the traditional gardening method (below right) I have four little ceramic pots that will be filled with soil.
The nutrient solution that I will be using in the hydroponics tank is the Dyna-Grow (bottom middle) which I got from "The Garden Doctor", a hydroponics store on 28th street. Here is their website http://mygardendoctor.com/ .
Hydroponics is soil free so the growing medium (the substance that the plants need to grow upright) that the plants will be growing in is perlite (bottom left) which is a form of obsidian that is generally used for insulation or the prevention of soil compaction. A growing medium must be used in order to hold the plants in place on the foam platform above the water.
Control group
My control group for this experiment is the traditional method of growing plants in soil. I have four bean plants that are planted in the four little ceramic pots and water them regularly.
Experimental group
My experimental group is the deep water culture hydroponics system for growing plants. There are four bean plants that are planted in the perlite in the holes of the foam platform and I add the nutrient solution as directed.
collecting data
I will be collecting the data for this experiment twice a week for four weeks. Each time I collect data I will be measuring plant height, and soil height. I will record the amount of water that each group has used and I will record the number of leaves that each plant from each group has. All eight plants were started from seeds at the same time and their individual heights were recorded as their initial heights.