Week #5 [raiz] Rhizobium [raiz]

So far, I have planted two rounds of seeds as controls and two with Rhizobium. Although I will have to count the data to see if there was a statistical difference in germination, a visual difference is offered by the corn. The corn planted with the Rhizobium has grown much faster than the corn planted without. Unfortunately, the other four specimens have not visually shown an advantage for Rhizobium. For this reason among others, I decided to replicate the first round. Although it is harder to keep all variables exactly the same (e.g. watering, data collection frequency etc...), the second round is not mirroring the first in any way; except for the radishes which are flourishing just as much as the first time. A possible explanation of this is that the second round of plants dried up over this past weekend even though they were watered on Friday. 

Unfortunately, I cannot be in the lab everyday to record germination counts and to water (and talk) to my plants. Matt and Amanda (and Josh) have all assisted in my absence (Thank you). This week is going to be especially difficult as I will only be in the lab two days. I probably won't start the third round until next week. I will choose a different inoculant but use the same seeds; meanwhile I will try to limit the variability. Regardless, this is all new territory for me, so I am not surprised by the gap between what I expect to happen and what is actually happening. Our conference isn't until May, so we still have plenty of time to collect data; however, in order to measure growth, we are waiting approximately three weeks after each planting. Only time will tell. The below pictures aren't the best representation of the different growth rates; however, the corn in the picture on the right has grown substantially more than that on the left and they were planted at the same time. I have recorded the measurements and will present them in my final project.