Trisha Litong

APES Lab
Seed Germination in Eco-Columns
Introduction
Seed germination is how a dry seed takes in water (this is called imbibition) to sprout and
grow into a plant (Bewley, 1997). Germination can fully occur in dormant seeds, in which seeds
were not able to germinate initially. There are three phases of germination. During phase 1 and
2, water breaks through the permeable membrane of the seed, rehydrating it. This rehydration
stimulates the metabolic processes the seed uses to grow, allowing roots to sprout from the seed.
During phase 3, also known as post-germination, the seed undergoes mitosis (plant cell division)
and meiosis (sexual cell division), allowing it grow further. In dormancy, the counterpart to
germination, a seed does not grow. This causes negative effects in the soil surrounding a
dormant seed. For example, dormant weed seeds prohibit the seeds around it from reaching
germination (Bewley, 1997).
Inorganic fertilizers, also known as synthetic fertilizers, do not directly come from
organic materials. Instead, they are processed, and as a result, contain less nutrients than organic
fertilizers (Savonen, 2008). One advantage of using inorganic fertilizers is that it takes in
nutrients faster than organic fertilizers. However, this causes a disadvantage inorganic
fertilizers can only take in one specific nutrient at a time. Thus, there are specific types of
inorganic fertilizers that target unique nutrients (e.g. ammonium nitrate uptakes nitrogen). Using
inorganic fertilizers is more harmful to the environment compared to organic fertilizers. Runoff
of inorganic fertilizers into water sources pollutes surface water and groundwater, making them

toxic. Many inorganic fertilizers contain phosphorous and nitrogen, and if these elements fill up
a lake, eutrophication may occur, resulting in algal blooms that essentially kill a body of water.
The difference between inorganic and organic fertilizers is that the latter contains many
nutrients, natural compounds, and carbon (Savonen, 2008). Instead of being synthetic like
inorganic fertilizers, according to Savonen (2008), they are derived directly from plant or
animal sources. They come straight from organic materials. Organic fertilizers are more
environment-friendly by allowing water to pass through the soil easily, providing the soil with
rigidity. However, a disadvantage to using organic fertilizer is that nutrients release slowly into
the soil, unlike inorganic fertilizer. Another disadvantage is that organic fertilizers are more
costly than inorganic fertilizers.
According to EcoChem (1998), composting is natures way of recycling. Composting
is the aerobic process of breaking down organic materials, like leaves, grass and rotten fruits,
into simpler, more useful substances for plants to use. Composting has numerous benefits
including, the elimination and advantageous use of deteriorating materials, the ability to retain
water, and its environment-friendly nature (NDSU, 2010). Composting does not happen on its
own. It requires microorganisms to help it break down the organic matter. These microorganisms
classify into primary, secondary, and tertiary consumers. (Planet Natural Research Center).
Primary consumers include bacteria and fungi that help with the initial breakdown of the organic
material. Secondary consumers include actinomycetes (a type of bacteria) aid in the breakdown
of cell walls of plants found in the compost. Finally, tertiary consumers include mites that eat
primary and secondary consumers. Mites use compost as their source of sustenance (Planet
Natural Research Center).

Experimental Design

Problem question: How do different types of fertilizers affect the rates of seed

germination in red beans?

Hypothesis: If we plant the same amount of red beans in plain topsoil, topsoil with
inorganic fertilizer, and topsoil with organic fertilizer, the rate of seed germination will be
fastest in the inorganic fertilizer and the slowest in plain topsoil. This is because organic
fertilizer slowly releases nutrients, inorganic fertilizer releases nutrients into the soil
quickly, and plain topsoil will not have fertilizer to help it germinate as fast as either of

the experimental groups.

IV: types of fertilizers
DV: rate of seed germination
CG: topsoil without fertilizer
EGs: topsoil with inorganic fertilizer (MiracleGro All Purpose Plant Food), topsoil with
organic fertilizer (MiracleGro Natures Care)

Materials & Methods

Get 6 Coke bottles. Use a knife and cut the top of 3 bottles and cut the bottoms off 3 bottles.
Pour 300 mL of water each into the bottoms of the cut-open bottle. Place 300 mL of plain topsoil
in one open-bottom bottle. This is the control group. Create a solution of teaspoon of inorganic
fertilizer and 1 gallon of water. Collect 75 mL of that solution and add it to 150 mL of topsoil.
Put this into the second open-bottom bottle. For the third open-bottom bottle, mix 150 mL of
organic fertilizer + 150 mL of topsoil. Next, plant 5 moistened red beans each into the groups.
Put a moistened pipe cleaner into the water bottle and connect it to the soil bottle so that water
can transfer from layer to layer of the eco-column. To do this, cover the opening with paper
towel, pour an inch of gravel on top, and string the pipe cleaner through to the water bottle. Place

each open-bottom bottle on top of each open-top bottle so that each soil bottle covers each water
bottle. Tape the bottoms back onto the top of the eco-column to create a closed system.
Data

Conclusion
To summarize,

the experiments

results refuted

our hypothesis.

We believed the

topsoil and

inorganic fertilizer would germinate the kidney beans at a faster rate; however, we over-fertilized
the plant. During the process, we realized that there were instructions on the inorganic fertilizer
that explained it needed 1 gallon of water to create a solution for tsp of fertilizer. That meant
150 mL of pure inorganic fertilizer was too much. Therefore, we made the correct solution and
only used 75 mL of it in our topsoil + inorganic fertilizer mixture. Although we changed the
inorganic fertilizer to topsoil proportion drastically, it still impeded the plants germination. The
inorganic fertilizer solution was too much for only five kidney beans, and stunted their growth,
just as it should have, making our experiment accurate. Thus, the organic fertilizer plant

germinated at a faster rate because it was natural, and correctly proportioned to the amount of
seeds. Finally, our experiment was not precise because we only conducted it once.
Resources
Bewley. (1997). Seed germination and dormancy. Retrieved from
http://www.plantcell.org/content/9/7/1055.full.pdf.
EcoChem. (2014). Composting process. Retrieved from
http://www.ecochem.com/t_compost_faq2.html.
Planet Natural Research Center. (n.d.). All the compost creatures: levels 1, 2 and 3. (n.d.).
Retrieved from https://www.planetnatural.com/composting-101/science/biology/.
Savonen, C. (2008). Here's the scoop on chemical and organic fertilizers. Retrieved from
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/gardening/node/955.