TrUE Scholars
Hello everyone! This semester, I am researching stomata efficiency in response to low light conditions and differing fertilizer treatments. Since starting my project in September, I have made a lot of progress! I started by choosing which sensors to use, offloading the data stored on them, and calibrating them. Then, I ordered the correct amount of shade cloth and built three cubes made out of 7-% shade cloth and PVC pipe. Finally, I was able to mix up my four fertilizer treatments and plant! I wish I could say that everything has gone smoothly, but we have run into a few interesting problems since planting at the beginning of October. For starters, I noticed about two weeks after planting that one of my shade groups was looking considerably worse than the others. After consulting my mentor, we decided that the group was most likely being shaded out by the other groups on either side. In response, I rearranged the greenhouse room to ensure that all of the groups we receiving the most sunlight possible. Thankfully, our solution seems to have worked and they are all looking a lot better! Sadly that is not where our issues stopped. That same week I also noticed that a few of my plants had been snacked on by some animal or bug in the greenhouse. I consulted the Greenhouse Manager and she said there was a raccoon loose in the facility that she had just captured the previous day. Thinking my issue was solved, I let them grow for a few more days. Sadly, I came back and found almost half of the new growth had been eaten! We decided to spray immediately and hope that the bugs munching on my plants would go away. Since then, I haven't noticed a significant change in my plant's condition other than their continued growth. I hope that spraying solved our problems and that it's not some type of fungus that causes the leaves to deteriorate. Going forward, I plan to start taking fluorescence and stomata conductance measurements in a week. I am very excited to start analyzing all of the data we've collected over the past month!