Measuring plant growth

[deleted-474137]

Hey everyone!
I'm doing this experiment on bean plants with antibiotics and I have some trouble with my results. I read about how to measure plant growth on this site, however I don't really understand what to conclude out of the number of leaves that I have counted. It said that it indicated the physiological age?? But how?
Can someone please explain this to me

[deleted-357169]

Hello there!
Welcome to Science Buddies!
I think it tells you about the physiological age because as plants grow taller they continue to produce more leaves. I would assume that the more leaves on the plant the older it is. However, I am not a plant biologist, plant experts feel free to jump in here!

Hope this helps some. Good luck on your science fair project and let us know if we can help any further

[SciB]

Hi Julia,
The 'physiological' age of a plant is not the same as its actual age. Plants go through stages of growth kinda like people. When young they grow fast and make lots of leaves but later they may put their energy into flowers or fruit and stop making leaves. Counting leaves is only one way of measuring a plant's growth. If you read the Scibuddies guide on plant growth there are several other ways to measure plant growth. You should always do more than one method to confirm your results. If you have questions about how to do the measurements post again and we will be happy to help.

Sybee