The great pH

battle!
A-6-5

Testable Question

My testable question was: does acid or neutral soil help roses

grow taller with after a month. After the plants died, I switched
from roses to zinnias.

Hypothesis

After doing some research, O hypothesize that the zinnias will

grow better in the neutral soil. The website http://
homeguides.sfgate.com/proper-ph-level-growing-zinnias-43572.h
tmsl
states that zinnias grow better with pH levels such as 5.5 and
7.5, leading me to believe neutral will be the best pH level for
zinnias. At the beginning of this experiment, I hypothesized the
roses would grow more in neutral soil.

Rational

My rational for doing this experiment was, I see people planting a

lot, so I wonder how these plants can grow more by changing a
variable in the growing process. So I decided to make an
experiment on whether roses grow better with neutral or acidic
soil (which were later changed to zinnias ).

Abstract

My testable question was: would neutral or base soil help roses grow better. The rose part of my
experiment changed when all the roses died, possibly because I added the limestone too early
causing one group to die. I am not sure why the other group died. I did a lot of research on the topic
of pH and how it affected plants. Zinnias grow best in soil with pH around the levels of 5.5 and 7.5
according to this website http://homeguides.sfgate.com/proper-ph-level-growing-zinnias-43572.html

The procedure is as follows.

Step1: Gather 10-20 rose seeds.

Step2: Decrease soil pH by adding sphagnum meat. Add 2 inches or peat to topsoil, in and around
plants.

Step3: Plant both acidic and neutral soil.

Step4: Plant 20 seeds, half in acidic soil, and half in neutral soil.

Step5: Gather water

Step6: Give each rose 4cm of water a week. If it rains, stop watering for 2 weeks.

Step7: Make sure roses receive the same amount of sunlight.

Step8: Observe every rose for germination and record number of plants.

Step9: Graph growth of rose every week.

Step10: Check soil pH once a week. Add measured amounts of acid to keep level the same.

Step11: Check soil for pH. Add base to soil to keep level the same.

Unfortunately, all the roses and zinnias died so no real results were gathered from the experiment.
When the roses were growing though, just before they died, I noticed the roses with bas soil were
growing slightly quicker.

Materials

The materials needed for this experiment are as follows:

1. 20 seeds

2.Acidic soil with a level of 5.5.

3. Water.

4.A large grassy area with backyard soil.

5. Neutral soil.

6. A large sunny area.

7. Gather all materials.

Simplified procedures

A more simplified list of my procedure are gather the 20 seeds

you will need and add pH by using dolomitic limestone. pound
of limestone for three square feet. The roses will be planted on
acidic and neutral soil, half and half. Obviously you require water
to keep the roses alive and well, 4cm every week. Keep the
sunlight level the same for each of them. Check for germination
every week and record the number of plants on the soil. Graph
the growth of he roses every week to measure your results. If the
levels start to change, add pH and decrease pH from the soil to
keep it even. Make sure you never change the pH level of the
neutral soil because that is the control.

Data Analysis

The data Ive collected was that roses grew better in base or
alkaline soil. Even though they died unexpectedly without reason,
I can still find data. The zinnias dont have any data because they
all died before I could even make them acidic. The day before the
roses died. The base soil roses seemed to be taller than the
neutral roses. The difference was slight, but as the plants grew
and grew, the difference might have gotten more profound and
noticeable.

Conclusion

This experiment doesnt support my hypothesis. I previously

thought neutral soil would help the roses but the results claim
that roses grow better in base soil. If I had an opportunity to
repeat this experiment, I would research why a rose could
unexpectedly die. Knowing this would greatly help the acid or
neutral experiment because I would have long term data which is
more reliable than the data I have right now.

Zinnia Data

Data
Day 1

Base

No
significan
t growth

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

No
significan
t growth.

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

No
Little
Zinnias
significan 1cm buds
have
t growth.
have
stayed
sprouted.

One
zinnia
has
wilted.

Zinnia More Almost All but one zinnias

s are zinnias
all
are dead.
3cm
are
zinnias
now. wilting. dead.

No
significan
t growth.

One
zinnia
has
wilted.

Zinnia More
More
s are wilting zinnias
3cm zinnias dead.
.
now.

at 1cm.

Neutral

Day 5

Small
buds
have
sprouted.

Zinnias
havent
grown
more.

Most zinnias died

before real there
could be a
decision on base
or neutral.

Rose Data

Acid

Base

Day 1

Day 2

No significant No significant
growth.
growth

No significant No significant
growth
growth

Day 3

Day 4

Small, but
unmistakable
growth.

No more
growth
from the
roses.

Roses
Roses
Roses are Rose
s
have
have
presumed
still
started stopped
dead.
mig
to wilt. growing.

All
roses
have
died.

Some
more
growth.

Roses No more
have
growth.
started
to wilt

All
roses
have
died.

Small, but
unmistakable
growth

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Roses are
presume
d dead.

Day
8

ht
be
dead
.
Rose
s
still
mig
ht
be
dead
.

Day 9

References

http://
www.southernliving.com/m/home-garden/gardens/azaleas
-made-simple
http://www3.epa.gov/acidrain/measure/ph.html

http://
antoine.frostburg.edu/chem/senese/101/acidbase/faq/what-is-pH.s
html
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/ph-d_483.html

http://www.corrosion-club.com/historypHscale.htm

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/make-acidic-soil-alkaline-4
5013.html
: http://
www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/r
aise-acid-level-soil.htm