Photo by V. Miller
Jan. 18, 2006
Silicon and Plant Growth
Will Silicon Help Plant Growth in South Florida Soils?
Kelsey Burnham, 12, Okeechobee, Fla.
Finalist, Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge, 2005
Project background: Kelsey's father returned from an agriculture conference excited about a new soluble silicon soil additive. He explained that even though South Florida soil is sandy, most of the silicon in that sand is not available to plants, which need it to grow. Kelsey decided to see if the additive really worked.
Tactics and results: Kelsey planted oats in five 15-gallon pails. The first pail was the control; the second had 1/2 cup of the additive per gallon of soil; the third used plain soil and fertilizer but no additive; the fourth had 1/2 cup additive per gallon of soil plus fertilizer; and the fifth had 1 cup of additive per gallon of soil plus fertilizer. Kelsey watered each bucket equally. After four weeks, she clipped, dried, and weighed the plants. She repeated the procedure two more times.
 |
| Photo by V. Miller |
Kelsey found that the plants supplied with silicon grew faster than those grown without silicon.
Read the latest science fair news
Get a science fair tip
Browse a list of science fair topics
Talk Back:
Do you have any comments about this ScienceFairZone? Send them
to us using the form below.
|
SNK RSS Feed 
