DOMESTIC BREEDING
Growing plants gives a lot of satisfaction, it can also be very informative for a naturalist. Plants develop and grow like animals. They react the same to the environment, only they do it slower. The nervous system of animals allows them to quickly find sunlit places or water, while the plants, not having a nervous system, they react to moisture and light by growing towards them.
No special equipment is needed for the cultivation of plants and experiments with them, while the effects can be surprisingly interesting. The further cultivation is so much easier, that when the plants growing here mature, we can grow more of them from the seeds they produce or through seedlings – we will then be self-sufficient.
Always write down the breeding data on the wall board; there should also be planting notes, germination and growth measurements.
Better to buy seeds, than to collect them while devastating the natural environment. Peas are the most convenient for experiments, beans, sunflowers, wheat and watercress, because they grow quickly, and after the experiments are over, they can be eaten. We can, of course, also collect some seeds of common plants, without destroying them.
Growing conditions
Most seeds, to be able to germinate, requires light, moisture, heat and air. Introducing four experiences, that will allow us to identify these needs. Of course, different plants have different needs, may even show significant deviations from general standards. For example, some seeds germinate only in the dark, which gives them confidence, that they are in the ground. However, once these plants begin to grow, their leaves need light. Anyone can devise an experience this way, to learn as much as possible from it. Some seeds, np. apple pits, they germinate only after a cooling period. If we harvest some in the fall and try to sow a few in the usual way, they probably won't. But let's try to keep them in the refrigerator for two weeks. After such a cold season simulation, these seeds are likely to germinate. In nature, this seed strategy does not allow them to germinate in the fall. As a result, young plants do not die from frost and snow in winter.
Does the amount of light matter??
All plants need light, necessary for photosynthesis – the process that provides them with nutrients. However, what amount of light is necessary for the effective growth of the plant? Does the type of light matter?? Do plants need sunlight, or is the light of an ordinary light bulb sufficient for them? To get the answer to these questions, we take two healthy seedlings, we put them on the window sill and measure their height every day. Then we reduce one of them "light day”, while still measuring its growth rate and plotting the data on a graph. In the same chart, we record the growth rate of the control plant, standing on the windowsill all the time. In this way, the growth of a plant with a shorter or longer than the normal light day can be compared, growth in natural and artificial light, differences between the light of a fluorescent lamp and an incandescent lamp.
Migration of seeds
Many seeds are spread by wind and animals. It's easy to check how important it is by scraping off the mud from your shoes after an autumn trip to the forest or fields.. We put the mud in the pot, providing all the necessary conditions for growth – light, heat, water and air. Astonishing – how many plants will rise in this breeding.