Effect of soil additives on plant growth

kespencer · Post by **kespencer** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 6:31 pm

I know what I need to do on this project, but I am supposed to have a consultant and don't know how to find one. Can anyone help me?

kes

MelissaB · Post by **MelissaB** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 8:48 pm

What exactly do you need a consultant to do? It sounds as if you may be looking for Science Buddies' mentoring program, which matches you up with a mentor who works with you closely during the project.

If you let us know exactly what you mean by consultant, we should be able to help you further.

kespencer · Post by **kespencer** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 5:22 am

We are supposed to find someone who is an "Expert" in the field we're doing our projects in. So I have to find someone who knows about soil and additives. My project is a second phase from last year where I checked additives to see which one would help soil hold water better and one of them that I tried was sodium polyacrylate. That one held the most moisture in the soil so this year I am seeing how using that might affect plant growth. I will be using it on potted plants. Next year I might expand into a phase 3 and try it on a larger scale. I live in New Mexico and drought is always a problem here during the growing season so it is something that could have long term implications is it is feasible. So I need someone who knows about soil and additives!

kes

Louise · Post by **Louise** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 6:11 am

kespencer wrote:We are supposed to find someone who is an "Expert" in the field we're doing our projects in. So I have to find someone who knows about soil and additives. My project is a second phase from last year where I checked additives to see which one would help soil hold water better and one of them that I tried was sodium polyacrylate. That one held the most moisture in the soil so this year I am seeing how using that might affect plant growth. I will be using it on potted plants. Next year I might expand into a phase 3 and try it on a larger scale. I live in New Mexico and drought is always a problem here during the growing season so it is something that could have long term implications is it is feasible. So I need someone who knows about soil and additives!

kes

Try calling your local agricultural extension office. They should have someone there who is expert in your topic. We just provide generally advice, and aren't allowed to contact you directly, so we won't be good consultants for you.

Louise

ChrisG · Post by **ChrisG** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 3:05 pm

Hi,
I'm a research hydrologist specializing in agricultural water and nutrient fluxes, and I might be able to help. Science Buddies sometimes sets up collaborations between students and experts. Otherwise, we can discuss things in this forum. It's not the easiest way to communicate, but it would be better than nothing.