Why not build the simply light box that Wisconsin Fast Plants has plans for
and raise Brassica rapa? The NASA microgravity experiment for fast plants
suggested using a six tube unit of the new thin bulbs because of its high
light intensity. I have both the original design and the new one and the
new one is much brighter. There is a wealth of material for experimentation
with the bassica already available.
Dwight Taylor
-----Original Message-----
From: sjohnson at mtsu.edu [mailto:sjohnson at mtsu.edu]
Sent: Thursday, July 20, 2000 6:48 AM
To: plant-ed at hgmp.mrc.ac.uk
Subject: window plant
plant-edders.
in our nonmajors biology course, there is not much that is
experimental in the lab sequence, and space is extremely limited.
so, last semester, i had students grow pea plants (innoculated and
control) at home on their windowsills. they maintained journals and
growth data was collected and analyzed after 7 weeks of growth. i
felt like students got involved in the project and enjoyed it. however,
a lot of the peas did not grow well. i had chosen peas because the
flower is pretty and the one we used should have had a pleasant
fragrance. by the end of the semester, few students reported
flowering, and a lot of the plants were sickly or dead.
can anybody suggest a plant that can be grown from seed that will
grow well under low light conditions?
despite getting off to a poor start last spring, i'm still excited about
the possibilities inherent in this class effort at generating real
experimental data. any advice will be appreciated.
sandra
*************
Sandra L. Johnson, Ph.D.
Plant Physiological Ecologist
Middle Tennessee State University
Biology Department PO Box 60
Murfreesboro, TN 31732
Phone: (615) 898-2021
FAX: (615) 898-5093
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