The compost used for this experiment was the ‘Multi-purpose compost with added John Innes' supplied from J. Arthur Bowers. Approximately 90litres of compost was needed for the experiment, as each pot can contain approximately 1 litre of soil and there were 90 pots being used in total. Intercept™ was also required to be added to the soil. Intercept™ is a systemic insecticide (containing imidacloprid) designed to kill the Sciarid fly eggs (Fungus gnats). The Sciarid fly is a particular problem to Arabidopsis growers as it lays its eggs on the soil. When the larvae emerge from the pupa they start feeding on the Arabidopsis plants, either eating and killing the plant or reducing it's viability to grow. It is common practice therefore to add 21g of Intercept™ per 75l of compost. As such 21g Intercept™ ÷ 75l of compost equals 0.28g per pot. 0.28g x 90litres equals 25.2 g of Intercept™. When the compost was removed from the bag it had to be broken up so as to remove the ‘clumps' of soil present in the bag. The compost and the Intercept™ were then mixed together and up to four litres of water was added so as to alleviate the dryness of the soil.
The soil was then put into 90 pots and depending on the dryness up to another litre of water was added. The soil was then compacted using a metal cylinder so as to level of the soil. The reason the metal cylinder was used to pat down the soil was for contamination reasons, as the validity/reliability of the experiment would be lost if it was found that the soil was in fact contaminated. The soil was levelled off so that the seeds could be planted in soil of relatively equal density. This stopped particular seeds having an advantage over other seeds in the same pot. The reason behind this is that Arabidopsis seeds require only to be placed on the top of the soil and in not to dense a soil. If the soil is too dense radicle emergence is impeded as it has to grow with more vigour to escape the soil.
Abstract,Introduction,Germination,Dormancy,Temperature,Light,Ecotypes
Ecotype-Storage,Soil preperation,Seed Sowing,Germination-Conditions,Measurement of Results
Cond1,Cond1rep,Cond2,Cond3,Cond4,Cond5,Cond6,Cond6rep,Cond7,Cond8