Lin Britto

SBI3U1
Mrs. Martin
01/18/2024

The effect of growing space volume on pea plant growth

Research Question

The purpose of the experiment conducted was to determine how the volume of the growing
space would affect a pea plant’s growth. The question asked was: How does the volume of a
designated growing space affect the levels of growth of a pea plant, in terms of root and
leaf length, and stem height? The main focus of the experiment was the actual space and
volume of the space in which the pea plant was growing in- and how changing the volume of
the space the plants grew in would affect their growth. To carry this out, I used different
cups of different sizes (1 oz, 3oz, 9oz) and watered the plants the same amount, exposed
them to the same amount of light, and kept all of the external variables constant. I
planted 9 plants in total, and put 3 of them in 1 oz containers, 3 in 3 oz containers, and 3 in
9 oz containers and kept their living conditions the same while measuring their growth
daily.

Background Information

Plants, the organisms that make up the kingdom Plantae, are non-mobile and self-sufficient
organisms that rely on the ability to produce their own energy from elements in their
respective environments, to grow.The majority of plant life depends on what is known as a
root system in order to stay alive. Roots are the vascular organs of a plant, typically found
underground. They expand as a plant grows and serve to take in water and nutrients from
the soil surrounding a plant. They usually benefit the plant when they are widespread and
deep- and are designed to grow that way, so they can obtain as many nutrients (eg.
nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, etc) from the soil as they possibly can, and so they can
obtain enough water to stay alive. As a result, a healthy and well-developed root system
would definitely play a key role in the success of a plant’s growth. One way to measure how
a plant grows, especially the root system of a plant is by controlling the volume of the
environment in which the plant’s roots are growing. By doing so, you are able to monitor the
effects of a growing space’s volume on the root system of the plant, and how that
correlates to the growth and development of the plant. The experiment I carried out
measured what would occur in terms of the plant’s growth if I limited the volume of the
growing space- and hence, limited the space the roots had to grow. As seen in a study done
by Canadian Science Publishing1 and a separate research study done at the Southwest
Florida Research and Education Center by Dr. Scott Nesmith and John R. Duval2, leaf
surface area, shoot biomass and root biomass all decrease with volume and access to
growing space for a plant. Furthermore, limiting the space a plant’s roots have to grow can
lead to a condition known as root bound- which will be explored later in this report. Hence,
I decided to measure the effects of limiting the volume of the plant’s growing space, and
record the results pertaining to the above variables.

Hypothesis

Therefore, in accordance with the research completed, my hypothesis was: If the volume
of the container is less than recommended, then the overall growth of the plant will
reduce. When we decrease the volume of the container in which the pea plant is growing,
we allow less space for the root system to expand itself, and obtain nutrients and water
from the soil. This reduces the amount of water and nutrients the plant is able to intake.
With limited water and nutrients the plant can take in, it will not be able to promote
greater growth. This is because water transports nutrients and energy throughout the
plant within the plant’s systems, and because nutrients restore the plant’s cells, which are
needed for new growth. Hence, according to the hypothesis I created, the plants with a
smaller growing space volume would not grow as well as the plants with a larger growing
space volume.

Variables

In this experiment, it was very important to keep the controlled variables monitored and
constant. Some of the controlled variables that were maintained were the amount of water
being given to the plants- 1 oz of water on the first day to wet the soil and ensure the
growing environment was stable, and ⅓ oz of water for each plant every day after that. I
also maintained the time and amount of days I watered the plant (every day at 10:15 am
for 13 days), the amount of light each plant received (I used a plant light , and ensured
each plant received the same amount of light), the water’s temperature (around 25°
Celsius), the planting depth of the seed (2-3 cm deep into the cup), the type of soil (loam
soil), among other things, such as air quality, water quality, cup material, etc. The
independent variable was the volume of the cup- I used a 1oz cup, a 3oz cup, and a 9oz cup.
The dependent variable- the one that was measured- was the growth of the plant,
measured by its height in centimeters.

Materials

The materials used in this experiment were;

1
MurphyGuillermo, P, L FileAmanda and A DudleySusan. “Differentiating the effects of pot size and
nutrient availability on plant biomass and allocation.” Botany 91 (2013): 799-803.
2
Nesmith, D. Scott and John R. Duval. “The effect of container size.” Horttechnology 8 (1998): 495-498.
 - 3 polyethylene terephthalate cups (preferably 1oz- diameter around 5.1 cm, 3oz-
diameter about 6 cm, 9oz- diameter about 5.5 cm)
- 2 extra polyethylene terephthalate cups of each size
- Around 1110 grams of unused loam-type soil
- Sharp, stainless-steel tool to poke holes.
- 9 pea plant seeds
- Water (around 1 oz for day one, ⅓ oz water every day after that. Relative to the
amount of plants being grown- I grew 9 plants, 3 of each size, so I used 9 times this
amount of water, for about 13 days.)
- Indoor plant lights, positioned so that plants get full light.
- Scale (to measure the weight of the plants)
- 1 ruler- (1-30 cm)

Method/Procedure

First, ensure all the materials required are present.

Setup:

1. Label and number all polyethylene terephthalate cups with the bottom circumference
and volume. The recommendation is 3 cups of each size, so 9 plants.
2. Using a sharp, stainless-steel tool, poke about 2-3 holes in the 1oz cup, 3-4 in the 3oz
cup, and 5-7 in the 9oz cup. Each hole should be 1mm or less in diameter.
2. Fill all cups with dry loam soil, leaving about a 1.5cm gap from the top of the cup. Lightly
pat down the soil.
3. Make a small hole in the soil, diameter less than 1 mm. Do this using the back of a pen or
a stick. Each hole should be around 2-3cm deep into the cup
4. Place one pea seed in each hole and cover it with enough soil to fill in any remaining
space.
5. Water the soil 1 oz, evenly distributed, ensuring the water is not concentrated in one
spot.
6. Repeat steps 1-5 for each cup
7. Place the cups in an area with a high amount of sunlight, ensuring all plants are receiving
equal light.

Process:

1. Check the plants each day for weeds, or any damage to the plants/cups themselves.
Ensure their growing environment remains stable.
2. Water plants once per day, giving them all ⅓ oz of water per day.
3. Take a ruler and measure the height of each plant as it grows by placing one end on the
soil.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 each day for approximately 13 days.
Collection of Data

Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day
# 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
small
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
small
2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
small
3 0 0 0 0 0 1 1.5 2 3 3.5 4 4 4
med
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
med
2 0 0 0 0 0 2.2 3 3.5 3.5 4 4.3 5.3 6
med
3 0 0 0 0 0 1.1 2.2 3 3.5 4 5.3 5.5 5.8
lar1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1.7 1.7 2 2.1 2 1.6 1
lar2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
lar3 0 0 0 0 0 1.3 2 3 3.5 4 5 5.2 5.4

*Graph displaying the growth of pea plants over a time period of 13 days:
* Data for plants labeled “small2” not shown, plant’s growth did not occur. Remained a seed
and did not sprout*

Experiment Conclusion

Ultimately, my hypothesis was refuted by the results of the experiment. Some of the pea
plants (small1, small2, med2, lar2) showed 0 growth throughout the experiment time
period- and when removed from the loam soil, did not germinate or sprout whatsoever.
However, the ones that did germinate and sprout grew at a similar rate regardless of the
volume of their growing environments. The one that grew the most at the end of the
experiment was Med2, one of the plants in the 3-oz cups, and the cups in the 3oz cups
ended up doing the best. However, even the plants in the 1-oz cups experienced some
growth. Furthermore, only 2 of the plants in the 9oz cups ended up growing, and one of
them (lar1) did not experience much growth. The reasoning behind these results is most
likely due to the concentration of the water in the soil. In each of the cups, only ⅓ of an
ounce of water was distributed per day. The reason the plants in the medium cups did the
best was most likely due to the fact that the concentration of water in that volume of soil
was an acceptable amount- so the roots were able to take that water in and use it.
However, in the 1oz cups, there was a small amount of root-bound present at the end of
the experiment, and in the larger cups, the roots were not able to retain all of the water
given to them as it was distributed farther than they could reach.

The results of this experiment also refuted prior research referenced here. In a study
done by Canadian Science Publishing titled “Differentiating the effects of pot size and
nutrient availability on plant biomass and allocation” (referenced above), the effects of pot
sizing on the root biomass of plants is measured, and it is found that over a long period of
time, plants placed in larger pots develop more root biomass. Furthermore, in another
study conducted by Southwest Florida Research & Education Center, titled “The Effect
Of Container Size”, the biomass of roots and leaves are measured in accordance to pot
sizings, and it is found that smaller pots result in less root and leaf biomass. Our
experiment refutes both of these pieces of research. However, there are several reasons
for this- specifically; human error, shorter time periods to conduct the experiment, and
different plant types.

Root-Bound:

Root bound is another unique occurrence that had an effect on our experiment. It is a
condition in potted plants/ plants in containers. As a plant grows, its roots mature and
grow longer as well, often so they can obtain more nutrients from their surroundings to
support new growth in the plant. However, in a container, a plant growing will eventually run
out of space to continue growing its roots, as the rooting segment of the plant is contained
by the container. Hence, the plant will become root bound: its roots will start to grow in a
spiraled, thick, dense mesh-like structure in an attempt to continue growing while having
nowhere to grow. In some plants, the roots will grow up and out of the container and
spread into nearby areas. If a plant is root-bound for too long, its roots will eventually
take up all the space in the container and leave no room for soil- leading to the roots to
die, and the plant to also die. Dead roots can also begin to rot and lead other parts of the
plant to rot. In “Southern Forests: a Journal of Forest Science” Vol. 207 (2006)3, the
effects of root bound are seen on Pinus patula saplings, and other saplings.

Evaluation of the experiment

Procedural Error

One of the main problems with this experiment; and a reason its results were not similar
to the results of the research experiments, was that the length of the experiment and the
sizes of the cups were ineffectively chosen. While the research experiments monitored
the growth of the plants over multiple months to a year, this experiment was conducted in
just 2 weeks. This may also explain why the medium plants did much better than the larger
ones. As water concentration was higher in the medium cups, the plants there thrived.
However, had the experiment gone on for longer, the medium plants would start to become
root-bound, while the larger plants would continue to grow normally. Furthermore, the
sizes of the cups chosen were highly ineffective. Very few plants- especially not a plant as
quick-growing as a pea plant- are able to thrive in rooting conditions with volume for root
growth being less than 1oz. However, due to the presence of soil in the 1oz cup, the roots
had less than 1oz of space to grow, and hence, the smaller cups were extremely
unsuccessful in comparison to the medium cups. If this experiment was repeated in a
situation where the volume for all cups was increased by at least 5 oz and the plants’
growth was measured over a much longer period of time, it may have yielded very
different and more scientifically accurate results.

Human Error
There were several errors in the conduction of this experiment. However, one of the most
critical errors was the soil type. While I did use the same loam-type soil for each of the
plants grown, I failed to check for anything that would affect the experiment. Later, I
found out that there were a large number of unknown flies and larvae in the soil which
most likely affected the growth of my plants. Furthermore, some of the larger plants were
later eaten by these unknown insects, and others showed signs of white webbing on them,
which caused them to wilt. Additionally, some of the plants had other species of plant-
namely variations of weeds- growing in the same cup as them, although I did not plant

3
South, D. B., and R. G. Mitchell. "A root-bound index for container-grown pines." In The Thin Green
Line: a Symposium on the State-of-the-Art in Reforestation: proceedings,(Thunder Bay, Ontario). Ontario
Forest Research Institute, Forest Research Information Paper, vol. 160, pp. 88-93. 2005.
those there. This was most likely due to the low-quality loam soil used, as it may have
contained germinated weed seeds inside it, which would result in additional growth found in
the cups holding the experiment plants.

Improvements to Procedure

I believe there are no significant errors in my current process of experimentation.

However, a step that could have been introduced to the procedure would be a thorough
examination of the soil, to ensure it is of good quality for the plant. Furthermore, larger
cups and an increased volume could have been a change that would have positively affected
the outcome of the experiment. Furthermore, another step that could have been added to
the procedure would be measuring the soil’s pressure with a soil pressure gauge. This would
have been beneficial as it would add some insight into the plant’s growth patterns and it
could be maintained constant for all plants. Finally, the largest procedural error was the
water-to-soil ratio. In a possible re-completion of this experiment, maintaining not the
same amount of water for each of the plants, but the same water-to-soil ratio would be a
much more beneficial way of completing this experiment, as the water-to-soil ratio would
not fluctuate between tests, and the experiment would only account for the volume
variable.

Citations

*NOT in perfect APA formatting, but cited as APA. However, in the footnotes, these are
cited in Chicago Formatting.*

1. MurphyGuillermo, P., FileAmanda, L., & DudleySusan, A. (2013). Differentiating the

effects of pot size and nutrient availability on plant biomass and allocation. Botany,
91, 799-803.
2. Nesmith, D.S., & Duval, J.R. (1998). The effect of container size. Horttechnology,
8, 495-498.