Foliage houseplants are easy to clone by rooting shoot cuttings and grow
under low light. I like to use piggyback plant (Tolmiea menziesii) which
produces foliar plantlets on its leaves which are easily propagated.
Growing plants in hydroponics to develop mineral nutrient deficiencies
gives a wide range of phenotypes and the plants can survive for many
weeks . You can easily get about ten different deficiencies if you can
prepare the solutions. You can also get toxicities of boron, salt, and
fluoride fairly easily. Softened water from a water softener is usually
toxic to house plants as well. Other environmental factors that can be
varied are light level, water level and carbon dioxide concentration. You
could also try applying artificial acid rain, growth regulators such as
gibberellin, growth retardants such as daminozide, and herbicides.
References
Hershey, D.R. 1995. Plant Biology Science Projects. New York: Wiley.
Hershey, D.R. 1994. Solution culture hydroponics: History and inexpensive
equipment. American Biology Teacher 56:111-118.
Hershey, D.R. 1993. Evaluation of irrigation water quality. American
Biology Teacher 55:228-232.
Hershey, D.R. 1992. Plants can't do without CO2. Science Teacher
59(3):41-43.
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