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Experiment to investigate effects on nitrogen fertilizers on vegetables:

Problem statement

All plants require water, sunlight, and other soil nutrients to grow. One of the most important nutrient for the plant’s growth is nitrogen. This is because nitrogen is useful in building plant’s protein, nucleic acid and DNA. Though abundance nitrogen is found in the soil and the atmosphere in the form of nitrogen (N2), vegetables cannot utilize this form of nitrogen directly. The required nitrogen in the soil is usually obtained by combining oxygen or hydrogen with nitrogen chemically. Nitrogen present in the soil in the form of ammonia (NH2+ and nitrate (NO3+) fertilizers (Webster, 1959). A number of experiment show that, vegetables grow very well when nitrogenous fertilizers are applied into the soil, however, this method is very expensive since the process must be repeated each time nitrogen is used up in the soil.

In this experiment, we will compare vegetables grown without applying nitrogen to vegetables grown with some nitrogen applied in the soil (Rahn, 2001). We will observe the effect of nitrogen on plant’s health by measuring each plant’s biomass increase at the end of the experiment.

Requirements:

Eight small pots

Soil for filling pots

A packet of seeds

Nitrogenous fertilizers

Empty glass for mixing fertilisers

Procedures:

Make holes on eight ports, which will allow roots to breathe and excess water to drain out.

Put an equal amount of soil into each of the pots.

Pour an equal amount of water to moisten the soil in each pot. Ensure not to over wet the soil.

Level three pots with nitrogen fertilizer’ and other four with ‘no nitrogen fertilizer’

Vegetables seeds in each pot as you add nitrogen to pots label nitrogen fertilizer’ Remember no add nitrogenous fertilizers to those pots label ‘no nitrogenous fertilizers.

Place the planted vegetables in a place where they are enough sunshine.

Ensure that your vegetables are always moist by adding few amount of water when needed. Note that, vegetables label ‘no nitrogen fertilizer’ should be added regular water, while pots labelled ‘nitrogen fertilizer’ should be added water mixed with nitrogen fertilizer. It is also important to follow manufacturer’s recommendation while preparing this solution.

After an interval of every two weeks, record observation on the growth of the vegetables. That is, record the number of plant’s leaves and plant’s height. Record your observations in the table below.

‘No nitrogen fertilizer’ ‘With Fertilizer’

#1 #2 #3 #5 #6 #7

Date

Height

Number of leaves Date

Height

Number of leaves Date

Height

Number of leaves etc.

Record the observations obtained after every two weeks as the vegetables grow until they reach maturity. Then, conclude the results by averaging the weekly results of vegetables labelled ‘nitrogenous fertilizers’ results of the vegetables labelled ‘no nitrogenous fertilizers’ . This averaging should be done on results obtained after every two weeks.

Hypothesis: Nitrogen is the primary nutrient, which is required by plant in a large amount. It plays a vital role in the process of photosynthesis, by which vegetables manufacture its own food. Since the vegetables in the pots labelled ‘nitrogenous fertiliser were applied enough nitrogen, they will grow faster and are more health as compare to vegetables label ‘ no nitrogenous fertilizers.’

Data collection:

The following are data that were collected while undertaking the experiment.

‘No nitrogen fertilizer’ ‘With Fertilizer’

#1 #2 #3 #5 #6 #7

Date 22/2/2014

Height

Number of leaves 2 cm

2 3 cm

2 2 cm

2 3 cm

2 4 cm

2 4 cm

2

Date 8/3/2014

Height

Number of leaves 4 cm

4 4 cm

3 4 cm

4 6 cm

4 6 cm

5 7 cm

5

Date 22/3/2014

Height

Number of leaves 7 cm

7 6 cm

7 7 cm

8 9 cm

11 9 cm

11 9 cm

11

Date 5/4/2014

Height

Number of leaves 9 cm

11 8 cm

11

10 cm

11 13 cm

14 13 cm

16 13 cm

15

Results interpretation:

From the results, it is clear that the vegetables without enough nitrogen are growing slowly. The rate at which they increase their heights and number of leaves is low. Vegetables with enough nitrogen grow faster; they added many leaves and most heights every two weeks. Here is a table showing the average of those vegetables in pots labelled ‘nitrogenous fertilizers’ and average of those vegetables labelled ‘no hydrogenous fertilizers.’

Averaged results

‘No nitrogen fertilizer’ ‘With Fertilizer’

Date 22/2/2014

Height

Number of leaves 2.3 cm

2 3.6 cm

2

Date 8/3/2014

Height

Number of leaves 4 cm 6.3 cm

Date 22/3/2014

Height

Number of leaves 6.7 cm

7.3 9 cm

11

Date 5/4/2014

Height

Number of leaves 9 cm

11 13 cm

15

Following is a graph of high for the above data obtained after every two weeks. The graph compare the rate of growth for the nitrogenous treated vegetables with the untreated vegetables.

-6762751505585Plant’s height in CM

00Plant’s height in CM

Discussion:

The aim of this experiment was to determine how the nitrogenous fertilizer can affect growth of the plant. It is clear that nitrogenous fertilizers are required at all stages of plant life cycle. The control experiment is a clear evident that the usual nitrogen that takes up to 78% of the atmosphere is not available for the plant growth. When extra nitrogen, which is in a form available to the plant are introduce in to the soil, vegetables grow faster and healthier.

conclusion:

Nitrogen is a macronutrient, which is essential for all vegetables. It is used in the development of important plant’s components such as genetic, structural, and metabolic components of the plant. Furthermore, nitrogen forms a major part of chlorophyll, which is a vital component for vegetables. Chlorophyll is used in synthesising energy from the sunlight to produce sugar.

Increase in nitrogen supply during the early stage of a plant strengthens and support roots. This ensures that the plant takes more nutrients and water. By doing this, the plant grows more rapidly and produce more amount of succulent crops that are resistant to crop. pest and diseases and hence ensure the highest yield.

In our experiment, plant that has insufficient supply of nutrients are generally small and grow slowly since it lack nitrogen required to manufacture adequate genetic and structural materials. Lower leaves normally turn yellow or pale green due to lack of chlorophyll.

However, too much application of nitrogen in the soil, can also lead to poor production. With extremely high nitrogen in the soil, vegetables fail to flower or produce fruits. Too much application of nitrogen can lead to plant burning, which result in shrivelling and eventually die (Dris, 2004).

References

Dris, R. (2004). Production practices and quality assessment of food crops. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic.Rahn, C. (2001). Proceedings of the International Conference on Environmental Problems Associated with Nitrogen Fertilisation of Field Grown Vegetable Crops: Potsdam, Germany, 30 August-1 September, 1999. Leuven, Belgium: ISHS, International Society for Horticultural Science.Webster, G. C. (1959). Nitrogen metabolism in plants. Evanston, Ill.: Row, Peterson.