AP EcoBottle Lab

Seed Germination: Inorganic vs Organic

Seed Germination: Inorganic vs Organic

Introduction
Fertilizers are chemical or natural substances that add essential nutrients to the soil in order to
help with plant development. Both types of fertilizer have their own advantages and
disadvantages. Organic fertilizers are natural substances such as manures, compost, or bone
meal, which come from animals or plants. According to Savonen (2008), Many of these
nutrients have to be converted into inorganic forms by soil bacteria and fungi before plants cause
use them, so they typically are more slowly released, over time. This is a disadvantage of using
natural substances, especially during wintertime when soil microbes are inactive. These are also
usually more expensive than inorganic fertilizers because they contain more nutrients in low
concentrations. Some benefits of using organics are the prevention of soil crusting and
improvement of water movement and structure of the soil.
Manufacturing facilities produce inorganic fertilizers such as ammonium phosphate and
ammonium sulfate, which often come from mineral deposits. Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium,
and sulfur are some of the most common nutrients and already come in concentrated form ready
to use. Concentrated form is not always a good characteristic, Savonen (2008) Since they are
lost from the soil quickly, you may have to apply it several times during the growing season
unless you use a specially formulated, slow-release type. It is dangerous to apply too much
inorganics because it may damage the plant and potentially ruin the soil as well. Benefits of
using this type are that they are often cheap and provide nutrients to the plant quickly.
Seed germination begins when the right temperature and amount of resources are in place.
According to (Hangarter, 2000), The uptake of water by dry seed is called imbibition. The

AP EcoBottle Lab
Seed Germination: Inorganic vs Organic

enzymes become active when hydrated, which allows the seed to produce energy for the growth
process. Photomorphogenesis is the process of plant development controlled by light. After
germination, plants go through the vegetative phase. This is where plants perform photosynthesis
in order to store energy for future phases such as flowering and reproduction.
The carbon cycle is the circulation of carbon dioxide between living things and the environment.
First stage in the cycle is plants. Plants go through the process of photosynthesis, when plants
capture sunlight and produce glucose and oxygen. CO2 is taken in through the stomata, which are
tiny pores under the leaves. The second stage, animals, is when animals consume the plant for
energy, inhale oxygen, and exhale carbon dioxide. Other activities that release CO2 into the
atmosphere include factories, volcanoes, burning, transportation, etc. According to the TEEIC
(2006), human activity is a major factor to the significant increase in carbon dioxide release into
the atmosphere, which in turn contributes largely to global warming.

Experimental Design
Problem Question: Will seed germination rates vary depending on the type of fertilizers we mix
with the soil?
Hypothesis: If we use both, inorganic and organic, for two separate seed groups, then the group
with the inorganic fertilizer will germinate faster because they will receive nutrients quicker than
the group with organic fertilizer and control group due to nutrient concentration.
Independent Variable: Type of fertilizer
Dependent Variable: The rate of seed germination

AP EcoBottle Lab
Seed Germination: Inorganic vs Organic

Control Group: Seeds without any type of fertilizer (Top soil)

Experimental Groups: Seeds with inorganic fertilizer and seeds with organic fertilizer
Materials & Methods
Constants: Same type of bottle and seeds
We used 2-liter bottles to contain the materials and represent an atmosphere/ecosystem. At the
bottom of a full bottle, we placed half a bottle to contain water and added pipe cleaners to
simulate an underground water source. One full bottle had bone meal (organic), another had
miracle grow fertilizer (inorganic), and the control one had top soil. We placed seeds on each of
the full bottles to test germinating rates. We placed the bottles under a light source and will be
recording data on a regular basis.