How Plants Work with Artificial Light By Elisa Pressley How a lamp effects A plants Growth

Question & Problem Question- How does artificial light effect a plants growth? Problem That Could be Solved- There might be a place that gets little to no sunlight and having a way to grow a plant without sunlight can be useful.

Hypothesis I thought that the marigold would grow a little slower than normal and have a lighter color. This is because the lamp is not a natural source of light and I think it’ll be a lighter color because when a dark or darkish color is left in a bright light, sometimes it’ll turn a lighter color. Though the marigold might already be a light color, I think that it will still turn lighter.

Procedure In order to prove that artificial light effects a plants growth, I used the following procedure.  Plant at least 3 marigold seeds in 2 suitable containers or pots. Keep soil moist until a seed sprouts.  In Plant A/1, continue watering as needed. Be sure to give 5-8 sprays of water from a spray bottle. Keep near a window and in sunlight. Treat plant with proper care.  In Plant B/2, continue watering as needed. When watering, give Plant B 5-8 sprays from a spray bottle. Put Plant B in a place without sunlight. Have a lamp in the room, for it will replace the sun. Make sure the plant has enough light from the lamp.  For Plant B, every 5 days, make sure to put the plant in sunlight from 9:00-9:10 a.m. to11: 40-11:50 a.m.  Continue procedures for each until fully grown.

Marigold Data  Marigolds need about 20% shade and the rest being sunlight  Marigolds don’t need much water. If they are planted in the ground, they should be watered every 10 days when planted in the ground  Marigolds can be planted in most types of soil but they grow best in clay, loamy, and sandy  Can be planted in all seasons except winter  Normally grow up to 6in to 2ft tall

Data

Results Plant A- Plant A grew at a normal pace with no setbacks or accidents. It seemed to be dying by the 8 th day, most likely from lack of water over the weekend, and on the 9 th day it seemed to be completely dead and couldn’t be revived. On the 10 th day, though, it was upright and seemed to be reviving itself. At the end of the experiment, it was still alive. Plant B- Plant B has been growing faster than Plant A even though Plant B is growing under a lamp and rather than in the sun. I treated this plant by giving it 5-8 sprays from a water-filled water bottle and putting it under a lamp. Every 5 days, I put the plant into sunlight from 9:00 – 9:10 a.m. to 11:40 – 11:50 a.m. Plant B has died over the weekend from lack of water as well. I thought that it was trying to revive itself because it looked brighter and more alive but that wasn’t the case and it was dead by day 8 or 9.

Conclusions I found out that giving a plant artificial light from a lamp worked better than giving it normal sunlight and that it grew faster than the plant that had only sunlight. I also found out that it as it grew, the color of the sprout got lighter and lighter. If I could change something about my procedure, it would be to take the day where Plant B is put into the sun out and let it stay in the sun for the entire time. There weren’t any problems that happened with Plant A or B. What surprised me was the growth difference between Plant A and B. Plant B grew faster Than Plant A even though it had artificial light. My hypothesis was that it would grow slower and have a lighter color. Plant B did have a lighter color compared to Plant A, as I expected, though I didn’t expect it to grow faster. My theory for why it grew faster is because there were Clorox wipes in