The cultivation of Spinacia oleracea through the utilization of phosphorus fertilizer and bentonite

School Name

Spring Valley High School

Grade Level

11th Grade

Presentation Topic

Botany

Presentation Type

Non-Mentored

Abstract

As civilization progresses, more and more useful tools have been developed to assist in agriculture, and to make it a less excruciating task. One of these tools are fertilizers that have been harming the soil and causing irreversible damage to the soil in some areas. In particular, phosphorus fertilizers have been clumping into legacy P clumps that take in all the phosphorus and keep plants from getting the necessary nutrients from the soil. Many solutions have been formulated to tackle this issue, but one clay, bentonite, has been shown to be able to take in excess nutrients from the soil in order to prevent eutrophication. Therefore, in this experiment, a hypothesis on whether bentonite could help phosphorus fertilizer stimulate more plant growth rather than prevent it was tested. In the experiment, the varying amounts of bentonite were added with a constant amount of phosphorus fertilizer in four separate pots, and then the plants would grow for 30 days while measurements of the heights were taken. The results suggest that the bentonite is indeed beneficial for spinach growth specifically, but many problems lay with the problem, like Pot 4 (the one with the most bentonite) having the smallest growth, and Pot 3 growing so quickly in a short amount of time in comparison to the rest of the pots.

Location

RITA 281

Start Date

3-23-2024 10:15 AM

Presentation Format

Oral and Written

Group Project

No

COinS
 
Mar 23rd, 10:15 AM

The cultivation of Spinacia oleracea through the utilization of phosphorus fertilizer and bentonite

RITA 281

As civilization progresses, more and more useful tools have been developed to assist in agriculture, and to make it a less excruciating task. One of these tools are fertilizers that have been harming the soil and causing irreversible damage to the soil in some areas. In particular, phosphorus fertilizers have been clumping into legacy P clumps that take in all the phosphorus and keep plants from getting the necessary nutrients from the soil. Many solutions have been formulated to tackle this issue, but one clay, bentonite, has been shown to be able to take in excess nutrients from the soil in order to prevent eutrophication. Therefore, in this experiment, a hypothesis on whether bentonite could help phosphorus fertilizer stimulate more plant growth rather than prevent it was tested. In the experiment, the varying amounts of bentonite were added with a constant amount of phosphorus fertilizer in four separate pots, and then the plants would grow for 30 days while measurements of the heights were taken. The results suggest that the bentonite is indeed beneficial for spinach growth specifically, but many problems lay with the problem, like Pot 4 (the one with the most bentonite) having the smallest growth, and Pot 3 growing so quickly in a short amount of time in comparison to the rest of the pots.