MARIGOLD AND BEAN PLANTS FED WITH ENRICHED WATER VERSUS WATER Author: William C. Threet Biology Department, Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville, TN Abstract: The experiment uses bean plants to conduct an experiment to find out if an enriched solution of water will make a difference in the growth of plants. The formula will contain much of what is in a powder fertilizer that can be added to water, such as nitrogen, copper, zinc, potassium, magnesium, etc. The hypothesis is that plants fed with the enriched water will grow more than those fed with the control substance, water. With the Marigold plants, the color of the blooms and overall appearance were compared, but with the Bean plants, extensive test were performed, such as t-test, mass, length, weight, and height are measured. The final results for bean plants prove the hypothesis to be correct. Keywords: averages, bean, competition, control, density, enriched water, fertilization, height, herbivores, mass, mean, nitrogen. Introduction: The experiments results will allow people to see just how an enriched formula will provide a better more efficient plant growth. Plant enthusiasts want their plants to grow to the healthiest and fullest potential. One of the studies researched includes a study on houseplants that last eight weeks in a laboratory, which is designed to evaluate the use of a by-product of tobacco. The control in that experiment is houseplants fed with a water formula versus the by- product. The end results of this experiment show that the enriched formula or by-product in this case improves the growth of the plant (Mickelsen 2003). Some other facts of this experiment need to later be included through further testing would be; the effects that herbivores might have on the results (Heinz 1992). Several studies have shown that herbivores can cause shifts in competitive relations between plants (Augner 1997). Another study was conducted to see if adding Nitrogen to “cordgrass” would increase the height. The results showed a significant improvement in mean height over a year (Boyer 1998). A study was also conducted showing the effects of genetic variation on the competition of plants (Lankau 2008). It would be beneficial to this experiment if the genetic composition of the bean plants tested in the current experiment were known. “The evolutionary consequences of resource competition have been extensively investigated through the study of character displacement (Taper and Case 1992); however, the consequences of genetic variation and evolutionary change in allelpathic traits is less clear” (Lankau 2008). Traits involved in resource competition, such as rates of nutrient uptake may likely affect competition (Lankau 2008). Methods: The use of the Scientific Method Matrix was put into play in this experiment. First, one must make an observation, which in this experiment; plants fed with an enriched water formula tend to have a better color and full bloom. The next step would be to state the problem: Do plants fed with an enriched water formula do better than plants fed with just water? Then, research the problem by setting up two different experiments one using marigolds and the other using bean plants; both of which will have a control group fed with water and the other with the enriched water. For the fifth step form the hypothesis. In this case the hypothesis is plants fed enriched water have a more rapid growth rate and a visually greater appearance than those fed with the control of ordinary water. Now it is time to test the hypothesis by watering a group with enriched water solution and regular water solution. In the experiment the eight pots that are filled three-fourths the way full with ordinary potting soil are labeled 3F, 6F, 10F 18F, for Fertilized group (the number being the count of bean seeds in each pot. The next four would be labeled 3NF, 6NF, 10NF, 18NF, for the Non-Fertilized group (again the number representing the number of bean seeds in each pot Literature Cited Augner, Magnus, Tuomi, J. etc “Effects of Defoliation on Competitive Interactions in European White Birch.” Journal of Ecology. 78:8 Boyer, Katharyn and Zeldler, J “Effects of Nitrogen Additions on the Vertical Structure of a Constructed Cordgrass Mash.” Ecological Applications. 8:3 Heinz, Kevin and Parrella, M “The Effect of Leaf-Mining by Liriomyza trifolii on Seed Set in Greenhouse Marigolds.” Ecology Applications. 2:2 Lankau, Richard “A Chemical Trait Creates a Genetic Trade-off between Intra- and Interspecific Competitive Ability. Journal of Ecology. 89:5. Mikkelsen, Robert L “Using tobacco by-products as a nitrogen source for container-grown houseplants.” Journal of Plant Nutrition. 26:8 Sowa, John F “The Law of Standard”. Wikipedia. Welch, B. L "The generalization of "Student's" problem when several different population variances are involved", Biometrika. 34:2Biometrika Conclusion: Overall, there was a large amount of factual data that pointed to the hypothesis of this experiment being true. The overall appearance of the marigold could be construed as personal opinion, but the marigolds that were fed with the enriched formula did show a more vibrant bloom and color was better. The results from the bean plants showed that the fertilized plants had more mass, height and density overall than that of the unfertilized so the null-hypothesis proved false; the plants fed with the enriched water formula have a faster growth rate and better appearance overall.