Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I am planning on doing a science fair project on the effect of different vitamins on plant growth OR the effect of different amounts of vitamin d on plant growth. As for the vitamin part, i am not sure what to research in order to provide evidence for my hypothesis. Can anyone help??

Sounds like an interesting premise for a science project! In order to provide evidence for your hypothesis, I would recommend formatting your search something like this: "impact of vitamin D on plant growth"
With a quick search you can find articles like "Vitamin D in plants: a review of occurrence, analysis, and biosynthesis" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3651966/) which provides a comprehensive review of some ways vitamin D is important for plants. With a google search you will get a wide range of information that includes things from blog posts to research papers. If you want academic papers that will give you more reliable information as evidence for your hypothesis, I recommend searching google scholar.

This link from Science Buddies has some more tips on how to find useful information for the background in your project: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... nformation

Hope this helps!

thanks, that helps!

I am growing beans for my science fair project. I am confused on how to properly measure the height of the plants. Do I measure from the soil level to the top of the plant, OR from the bottom of the pot to the top of the plant?
Also, I will be adding a solution to my plant once a week. Should I spray the solution on the plant or pour it into the soil?

Hello lostflower43,

Your most recent post sounds like you are asking a question about the same project which an expert was helping you with. So I've merged your new post with the previous thread so that expert can more easily see that you have new questions.

Best of luck with your plants!
Madeline
Moderator

lostflower43,

Sounds like an interesting project!

How you measure the plants (whether from the soil base or the pot base) should not matter as long as you use a consistent method for all of your measurements. So either choose to measure from the soil base or the pot bottom for the whole project. If you are interested in root growth in addition to stalk height, I recommend a see-through pot (glass) to be able to measure to the bottom of the roots, as they may not reach the bottom of the container you have them in.

How diluted is your solution? If it is quite diluted, it would likely be okay to pour directly on the plants. However, if it a strong, spraying it may be the better option. You also may want to consider spraying it to avoid over-watering your plants. Whichever method you choose, like before, keep it consistent for all of your plants throughout the project.

I hope this helps! Let us know if you have any additional questions.
Cat