Seedlings Height and Germination
**This is an attachment for the seedling height record for May 12 2017, which is correctly the third week after the seeds were planted into the soil samples and was erroneously excluded from the report. The last recorded seedling height was at 22 May 2017, which was recorded in the previous week report (Padi Huma Bakilong - Week 3 Report).**
Seedling heights for May 12 2017:
S1
Average plant height: No germination
Germination rate: 0 %
Mortality rate: 100 %
Deficiency symptoms: - No germination
S2
Average plant height: 23 cm
Germination rate: 61.111 %
Mortality rate: 38.889 %
Deficiency symptoms:
-Brown colour at the tip of the leaves (Deficiency in Potassium)
-Leaves are yellowish green (Deficiency in Nitrogen)
S3
Average plant height: 16.833 cm
Germination rate: 57.407 %
Mortality rate: 42.592 %
Deficiency symptoms:
-Brown colour at the tip of leaves (Deficiency in Potassium)
-Leaves are yellowish green (Deficiency of Nitrogen)
S4
Average plant height: 27 cm
Germination rate: 100 %
Mortality rate: 0 %
Deficiency symptoms:
-Brown colour at the tip of leaves (Deficiency in Potassium)
S5
Average plant height: 8.2 cm
Germination rate: 37.037 %
Mortality rate: 62.962 %
Deficiency symptoms: - None observed
Table 1: The average height of the seedlings over four weeks
Soil
Sample
|
Week
1 average height (cm)
|
Week
2 average height (cm)
|
Week
3 average height (cm)
|
Week
4 average height (cm)
|
Average
height for four weeks (cm)
|
S1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
S2
|
0
|
21.833
|
23.000
|
24.367
|
23.067
|
S3
|
0
|
8.633
|
16.833
|
24.300
|
16.589
|
S4
|
0
|
13.000
|
27.000
|
38.733
|
26.244
|
S5
|
0
|
0
|
8.200
|
9.167
|
5.789
|
Table 2: Number of germinated seeds, rate of germination, and rate of mortality
Soil
Sample
|
Number
of seeds planted
|
Number
of seeds germinated
|
Rate
of germination (%)
|
Rate
of mortality
(%)
|
S1
|
54
|
0
|
0
|
100
|
S2
|
54
|
33
|
61.111
|
38.889
|
S3
|
54
|
31
|
57.407
|
42.592
|
S4
|
54
|
54
|
100
|
0
|
S5
|
54
|
20
|
37.037
|
62.962
|
The seedling height were taken over a period of four weeks from 22 April 2017 to 22 May 2017. Table 1 shows the average height of the seedlings over the four week period. As it can be observed, soil sample S4 has the highest average height at 26.244 cm followed by S2 at 23.067 cm, S3 at 16.589 cm, and S5 at 5.789 cm. The seedlings in soil sample S1 failed to germinate. Both the soil texture and the soil pH together contribute to the fertility of the soil as how well the seedlings grew in these soils can be inferred from the results. Table 3 below shows the soil texture and pH comparisons between the soil samples:
Table 3: The soil texture and pH of the soil samples.
Soil
Sample
|
Soil
texture
|
pH
(pH Meter)
|
S1
|
Clay
|
6.15
|
S2
|
Sand
|
6.76
|
S3
|
Sandy
Clay Loam
|
3.06
|
S4
|
Loam
|
6.39
|
S5
|
Sandy
Loam
|
5.33
|
It can be inferred that the padi huma bakilong seedlings can grow in sandy soil textures, but not in clay soil textures. This is evident in the pH level between soil samples S1, S2, and S4 which are all in similar ranges but only S1 failed to germinate. The seedlings are also able to grow in soil pH as low as pH 3, but the optimum range seem to be around pH 5 till pH 6 as the seedlings in S2 and S4 grew above 20 cm despite the very different soil textures.
Wet Weight of Seedlings
Table 4: Wet weight, dry weight, and total water weight in the seedlings
Soil
Sample
|
Wet weight, W
(g)
|
Dry weight, D
(g)
|
Total water,
W-D
(g)
|
S1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
S2
|
0.8029
|
0.0652
|
0.7377
|
S3
|
0.6218
|
0.0572
|
0.5646
|
S4
|
0.9360
|
0.0840
|
0.8520
|
S5
|
0.3122
|
0.0482
|
0.2640
|
Analysis of Heavy Metal
Analysis of concentration of heavy metal in five types of soil by using the ICP-MS. Each of the soil are sieved for 15 minutes by using the sieving machine. After sieving, the finest of soil will be used to do acid digestion (adding of HNO3 solution and H2O2 solution). After acid digestion, filter, and dilute sample preparation to the solution.
After getting the result of the concentration of heavy metal, the average concentration measured of heavy metal are used to calculate the absolute amount of the heavy metal.
The formula that use to find the absolute amount of heavy metal (mg/L) are as below:
[Average
Concentration measured (mg/L) x Dilution factor x volume solution (ml)] / Weight of
soil (g)
Where mg/kg= mg/L.
The ICP-MS tested 10 types of heavy metal which is Lead (Pb), Arsenic (As), Cadmium (Cd), Nickel (Ni), Copper (Cu), Manganese (Mn), Iron (Fe), Zinc (Zn), Magnesium (Mg), Calcium (Ca). The negative result indicates that beyond detection limit of the instrument, the result is undetectable. This is because the test samples are too diluted.
Table 5: Average absolute
amount concentration of heavy metal in S1, S2, S3, S4, and S5.
Average absolute amount
concentration of heavy metal (mg/L)
|
|||||
S1
|
S2
|
S3
|
S4
|
S5
|
|
Pb
|
4.73
|
3.33
|
12.01
|
6.21
|
2.22
|
As
|
0.24
|
1.58
|
0.72
|
-
|
-
|
Cd
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Ni
|
3.77
|
4.67
|
4.62
|
4.77
|
1.24
|
Cu
|
3.33
|
-
|
8.93
|
2.77
|
-
|
Mn
|
46.90
|
34.92
|
78.90
|
58.06
|
13.85
|
Fe
|
9378.56
|
1581.69
|
13817.56
|
6726.28
|
2878.49
|
Zn
|
39.25
|
21973.73
|
205.27
|
55.56
|
23.19
|
Mg
|
1110.25
|
1448.86
|
934.35
|
565.11
|
753.42
|
Ca
|
2735.05
|
89504.18
|
758.46
|
2445.53
|
382.82
|
 |
| Figure 1: Arsenic |
 |
| Figure 2: Calcium |
 |
| Figure 3: Copper |
 |
| Figure 4: Iron |
 |
| Figure 5: Magnesium |
 |
| Figure 6: Manganese |
 |
| Figure 7: Nickel |
 |
| Figure 8: Lead |
 |
| Figure 9: Zinc |
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