3/4 - Fan Application

Welcome Back to my Research!

I'm Tia, and I am currently growing cornflowers to analyze the effects of wind force on the biomechanical structure of plant stems. After finding the gap in current available research, proposing my research, getting approved, gathering materials, setting up the pots, and beginning the first stages of growth for my plants, the month of February was filled with the truly interesting part of my research: the fan application process.

Figure 6.1: Professors Mickovski and Ennos methodology for stem flexure (Mickovski & Ennos, 2003, p. 3).

Previous Research Methods

In the past, researchers have applied a horizontal force to plants by using their fingers to bend the stems of each plant or using a thread to pull the stems to a certain angle (Fig 6.1). The downsides of this process is that it is tedious to individually bend each plant, especially if this process is to be done on a large scale.

Figure 6.2: Example of plants growing to different heights after an outside force is applied (2017).

Previous Findings

Applying a horizontal force is known to decrease adult stem height (Fig 6.2), increase root-to-shoot biomass, and decrease surface area overall, either through leaves or flowers. This is because the plant is adapting to this newly applied force and is attempting to protect itself from dying, ultimately making it stronger to potential future threats.

Figure 6.3: Example of extreme weather killing crops necessary for food (Robles & Ferré-Sadurní, 2017).

Purpose

In the real world, making this process more efficient can allow farmers to apply this process and strengthen their plants during the growth cycle, so that when extreme weather conditions occur (Fig 6.3), the plants will be stronger and more resilient.

Figure 6.4: January 31 - Example of a hole being cut out of a foam poster board.

Figure 6.5: January 31 - Example set of 9 pots being lined up in their starting location with labels removed.

1/31 | Setting Up

The first step was to set up. Using a 20" x 10" poster board, I cut 9 holes (Fig 6.4) that were 2.5" in diameter (slightly bigger than the bottom of each pot which is 2" in diameter). These are to keep the pots stable while the fan is blown on the plants.

This poster board was put 1.5m away from the fan (Fig 6.5). All of the labels for each pot were removed so that they wouldn't get in the way of the application process.

1/31 to 2/11 | Applying Force

After set-up, a step-by-step process was created so that each application process would be uniform:

A black dot was drawn on each pot. This dot was then lined up to the starting line on the poster board.
Fan was applied for 10 seconds, which was tracked using a timer app
Then, the pot was rotated 45 degrees, which was marked using lines on the poster board.
Steps 2-3 were repeated 8 times until the pot reached the starting location.

Figure 6.6: An image of me in between rotations. As shown, the dots lined up to specific lines on the poster board, which I lined up as a rotate them. Also shown is the timer on my phone (Raizada).

Figure 6.7: February 22 - A plant being measured. As shown in the image, this plant is 1.2cm high, as the height is taken from the soil to where the leaves start.

2/14 to 2/22 | Data Collection

Finally, a week was spent tracking the effects of the force treatment on stem height and number of leaves, done for both the control and experimental groups. The height was measured in centimeters using a ruler.

Additional Notes

Although this doesn't seem like a lot of work in a months time, the process was much more time consuming than it seems. For 144 pots, taking data and applying the fan process to 108 of them, 36 of which had to occur every day, was very time consuming. Additionally, I missed many days especially in late February, which led to me having to cut my data collection process much shorter than anticipated. However, I still managed to collect enough data and will begin data analysis in this coming month.

Online Lab Notebook

Figure 6.8: The step-by-step layout of what I accomplished each day during the past month is laid out.

Data

Data Collection Sheet

Figure 6.9: The data I collected as well as when the fan was applied to each plant was recorded.

Thank You for Tuning In!

Thank you for continuing on this journey with me. Stay tuned for my future progress analyzing the data I've collected and conclusions that I will make.

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