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wolfiewolfie
Just wingin' it.
Registered: 06/16/15
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Loc: Australia
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Plant growth experiment 3
#27120085 - 01/01/21 10:25 AM (3 years, 2 months ago) |
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I had an idea for an experiment to try on one of my plants while reading about photosynthesis; how sunlight is used to break apart H2O freeing up electrons to be used in other chemical reactions. To me this process sounded a lot like electrolysis, and I wondered if this process was done externally and the plant was fed with a stream of extra electrons how it might affect the plants growth.
So, I found a couple of cheap solar panels i had laying around, wired them together then to two electrodes that were placed in the soil either side of the plant.
8.66v read directly from the solar panels on an overcast day
0.76v was read in the soil (One wire on an electrode, the other directly in the soil roughly 3 hand spans away)
I will continue to update with photos but so far I have seen a significant increase in growth in only a day or two. (I'm not sure if I should introduce a battery to the system so it keeps going overnight or not :/)
29 December 2020 8am - Just before the experiment began, plant is 6 weeks old
30 December 2020 4pm
31 December 2020 7pm
10 January 2021 11am
15 January 2021 9pm
1 February 2021
7 February 2021
16 February 2021
27 February 2021
1 March 2021
-------------------- The only reason why T-rex's can't walk backwards is because they're extinct, which perfectly explains why there are no headaches in the rainforest; The parrots eat 'em all. My Drawings
Edited by wolfiewolfie (03/11/21 04:09 AM)
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Icon
Bloomer
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Interesting. Shouldn't you have another plant next to it without the probes for comparison? Clones ideally, or any results will just be subjective. Looking good tho
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wolfiewolfie
Just wingin' it.
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Re: Plant growth experiment [Re: Icon]
#27120160 - 01/01/21 11:05 AM (3 years, 2 months ago) |
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You are right I should have had a control plant.... Depending on how this goes i might do a proper experiment with control from sprout to harvest.
To give some idea of growth rate, the first photo of the plant was about 6 weeks old
-------------------- The only reason why T-rex's can't walk backwards is because they're extinct, which perfectly explains why there are no headaches in the rainforest; The parrots eat 'em all. My Drawings
Edited by wolfiewolfie (01/01/21 11:10 AM)
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koraks
Registered: 06/02/03
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This has several fundamental flaws due to which no useful results will be generated from this experiment.
However...looks like you're having fun!
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yoosername
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Re: Plant growth experiment [Re: koraks]
#27120254 - 01/01/21 11:59 AM (3 years, 2 months ago) |
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I've heard of people grounding their indoor beds as well, though I can't remember the logic behind it.
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psi
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Re: Plant growth experiment [Re: koraks]
#27120255 - 01/01/21 11:59 AM (3 years, 2 months ago) |
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Yeah I'm not sure any mechanism exists by which plants can harness electrical current from the soil in this way.
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GreenHorns
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Re: Plant growth experiment [Re: psi]
#27120419 - 01/01/21 01:24 PM (3 years, 2 months ago) |
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It might help to create an area of symbiosis with the native worms and such. I've seen people collect worms for bait by soil electrolysis. Might draw them in and oxygenate/ammend the soil if nothing else. I'm very interested none the less. Best of luck.
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wolfiewolfie
Just wingin' it.
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Re: Plant growth experiment [Re: GreenHorns]
#27120448 - 01/01/21 01:44 PM (3 years, 2 months ago) |
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So after some Googling I have found that this is already a thing and its called Electro Culture. The more I read the more I think my setup is wrong, however there are many different setups and it's all very interesting nonetheless.
Aparantly China has been using electroculture to grow food for a while...
It appears that the main proven benefits from electroculture are quicker germination, better growth, increased yields and resistance to certain plant diseases and insect pests.
-------------------- The only reason why T-rex's can't walk backwards is because they're extinct, which perfectly explains why there are no headaches in the rainforest; The parrots eat 'em all. My Drawings
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wolfiewolfie
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-------------------- The only reason why T-rex's can't walk backwards is because they're extinct, which perfectly explains why there are no headaches in the rainforest; The parrots eat 'em all. My Drawings
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Hunter hunter
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Interesting. I’d thought about running ground wires to every pot my trays. I figure if everything has to do with electrolytes then a ground could help complete the circuit.
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koods
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Quote:
0.76v was read in the soil (One wire on an electrode, the other directly in the soil roughly 3 hand spans away)
You’re not measuring anything except the relative electronegativity of your two electrodes. You made a battery with two electrodes and the dirt as the electrolyte, and that is the voltage. Disconnect the power source and you’ll still get a voltage across the electrodes, because it is the electrodes themselves generating that voltage.
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koods
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Re: Plant growth experiment [Re: koods] 1
#27120605 - 01/01/21 03:16 PM (3 years, 2 months ago) |
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If you’re using direct current, youre going to deplete the electrode’s ability to conduct electricity pretty fast. When a medium conducts direct current, ions physically move through the electrolyte (the ground in this case. Ions take time to migrate through a substance and you end up with ion depletion at one electrode. Without the ions conducting elections from the electrodes current stops.
Alternating current jiggles ions but they don’t really migrate
Also one of your electrodes will disappear if there is a current flowing. A circuit that was conducting say 5 volts at 100ma would consume a nail electrode in a few hours or so.
You probably would have to think about the effects of dumping a lot of one type of metal ions into the soil, because one of them will always be dissolving and those ions will be pulled through the ground to the other electrode.
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Edited by koods (01/01/21 03:24 PM)
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Zombi3
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Quote:
psi said: Yeah I'm not sure any mechanism exists by which plants can harness electrical current from the soil in this way.
QFT
Very interesting logic and idea here OP. You’ve got a mind for horticulture if you came up with this experiment on your own.
Replicating this experiment with; 100 plants probed to a solar panel, 100 plants probed to a car battery or other electrical trickle source, &, 100 plants left as control plants; And you just may get some results to support your line of thinking.
However I don’t believe there is a pathway that exists in the root system or rhizosphere wherein it can uptake electrical current from the soil. In fact introduced electricity in the soil, I think, is more likely to interfere with proper nutrient uptake from the soil colloids. Plants uptake nutrients dissolved in water. Adding any energy source that promotes water to break apart and evaporate is more likely to leave a high concentration of salts solidified in the soil, which are unavailable to the roots. You need to remember the energy from the sun is HEAT energy; while the energy from a solar panel is ELECTRICAL energy. Two different forms of energy that transfer differently and react differently with plants, soil, water, and nutrients.
Nonetheless very interesting idea OP.
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koods
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Re: Plant growth experiment [Re: koods] 1
#27120658 - 01/01/21 03:46 PM (3 years, 2 months ago) |
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This is essentially what is happening between two electrodes when electricity is being conducted through a solution of ions, such as wet soil, or in the case of the video, water.
These are zinc electrodes. At the positive electrode, your power source is pulling electrons from the zinc, making zinc ions which then get pulled to the negative electrode. At the negative electrode the zinc ion is converted back into metallic zinc. Watch this video, you can see the how the positive electrode is vanishing while the negative electrode has metallic zinc growing toward the positive electrode.
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NotSheekle said “if I believed she was 16 I would become unattracted to her”
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cannabinated
Registered: 01/03/13
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Re: Plant growth experiment [Re: koods]
#27121095 - 01/01/21 08:25 PM (3 years, 2 months ago) |
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minerals bro
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wolfiewolfie
Just wingin' it.
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-------------------- The only reason why T-rex's can't walk backwards is because they're extinct, which perfectly explains why there are no headaches in the rainforest; The parrots eat 'em all. My Drawings
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pacmanbreed
Registered: 10/12/16
Posts: 3,829
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interesting. I have tried this using DC & two iron electrodes at opposite side awhile back then. as well as electro magnetic coils at the base of stems. 2 of my plants grew well in a grow cab, not sure the science behind before, I think the current helps with some conductive mineral transport in the soil, while the magnetic coils for the uptake of metal such as iron. seems plants are also affected by the natural magnetic fields around us.
it was a fun experiment then, though my intuition tells me that its not optimal specially in larger scale. there I switched to organics, biodiversity is the key, living soil with small critters and fungi for me are better approach for soil mineral/nutrient transport as it is self regulating, the roots knows what and when to release its juice for specific nutrients.
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cannabinated
Registered: 01/03/13
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Im sure that plants can quickly learn to develop a use for magnets
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cannabinated
Registered: 01/03/13
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Loc: Outside
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maybe not quickly, one plant out there deff has a some protein that reacts with the magnetosphere
birds probs do too
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pacmanbreed
Registered: 10/12/16
Posts: 3,829
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quite interesting, I do think almost every living creature to the smallest bit of US utilizes this and thus also contribute to such unseen fields. also during my cocky days or being emotionally down, exhausted, my crops aren't as productive reflecting the way I am in my state of mind and vice versa.
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