I need details on a science project testing different fertilizers on seedlings?

Question

we are going to try to test 3 different kinds of fertilizer to see which will grow faster

Answer 1

You need a low fertility, uniform media so that differences in your fertilizers can be expressed. A good mixture of sand and sphagnum peat moss would work fine. Have at least three pots of each treatment so you have a good look at each treatment. Also have three pots with just the soil mixture (no fertilizer) to compare to. Keep them all watered the same, in the same light as much as possible, etc. In other words keep everything the same on all of your project so that the only differences are your treatments. Good Luck.

Answer 2

have 4 plants (1 for a control)

- have them all postioned in the same place (same amount of sunlight)

- measure the amount of water you give them all, say 50ml once a day or something

- then put 3 different fertilizers on the 3 other plants.

- by the way you would want to have plants of the same height or start the from seeds depending on how long you had for the expperiment.

- ensure you label the plants according to the fertilizer

hope this helps

Answer 3

One important detail to keep in mind is that of controls. Make sure your "soil" substitute is inert or you will not get any meaningful results. Sand, perlite, vermiculite, or any combination should be considered. Soiless mediums, especially those from organic sources can be a problem as there is a certain low level nutrient base to consider. For that reason soil might also cause a problem. You can use them but the results will be more dramatic if you start with a washed nutrient free substrate. Some things that we worked with in our different lab exercises at the university were, in one example, the differences in an ammonium nitrate based fertilizer and non-ammonium nitrate based fertilizer. We also did comparisons with organic materials in comparisons. Earth worm castings (manure) were surprisingly potent, toxic at a certain (low) level. Another project might be to use the same chemical based fertilizer with different formulation strengths, such as the effect of 5-10-5, 5-10-10, 20-10-10 with the same crop (grass seed). Another would be the effect of fertilizer (chemical) with micro nutrients, with no micro nutrients, and with some micro nutrients. Obviously in class you will be briefed on safety with chemicals but you need to take great care with working with all agricultural products, to include those "harmless inert soils" (dust hazards). Wear gloves and consider dust masks. Ask your instructor to help with safety rules.

Answer 4

Let me add a bit to some earlier answers.

With the exception of one control (see below) I would totally stay away from any potting mix you can get at a box store.  All of these have some degree of fertilizer added to them.  

Familiarize yourself with the symptoms of nutrient deficiency and toxicity.  The plants will tell you what they need if you know how to "read" them.  Combine this with what you know about your fertilizers and you have a whole new level of data gathered from your experiment.  

Be careful to replicate your experiment.  Can be done by using a bunch of plants and make each treatment a group of 3 (or 4, 5, whatever).  If you have one plant in each treatment and that plant dies, it does not necessarily mean the treatment killed it.  But if you have 4 plants and they all die, you have a much stronger case.  You could also re-run the experiment multiple times to get more data.

What are you going to measure?  I suggest height, number of leaves, number of nodes, and at the end of the experiment you might take fresh and dry weights.  I would also record symptoms of nutrient deficiency and dates and numbers of flowers, if they get that far.  

Finally, always ask "What is normal?"  In your experiment you might want two controls.  One would be inert soil/no fertilizer.  This will help you gauge how much fertilizer is coming from the mix.  The second would be grown in regular potting soil.  This is a way to gauge the whole experiment and give you a range of results.  (So you have No Fertilizer, Fertilizer A, Fertilizer B, Fertilizer C, and Potting Soil)

Answer 5

Are you wanting natural fertilizers?

Go to a local farmer and grab some p**p, Lamb or Goat p**p will most likely work the best.

Sorry couldn't help you more, good luck on your project.