fairfolio
Saved Projects

Friendly Fungi: Can It Green Up the Planet?

CSEF · 2011 Plant Biology

Naveed Jahani-Orner · University Park Elementary, Irvine, Orange County

Overview

Objectives/Goals My investigative question was: Does Mycorrhizal Fungi affect how much a plant grows? I started the project with hypothesis that Mycorrhizae will increase the height of the experimental plants because Mycorrhizal fungi create greater root surface area for greater nutrient and water intake resulting in larger, healthier plants. Methods/Materials The materials I used were: Pots, plants (Hypoestes Phyllostachya), Mycorrhizae product "Great White", potting soil, and water. My procedures were as follows: A: Put each plant in separate pot with potting soil. B: Applied one teaspoon of "Great White" Mycorrhizae to 5 plants. Five plants were used as control plants without application of Mycorrhizae. C: All plants were watered equally daily. D: Measured height of tallest plant stalk in each pot weekly. Also measured diameter of plants. Made note as well of leaves affected by pests. Results Average growth of plants with Mycorrhizae was 4.6 inches. Average growth of plants without Mycorrhizae was 3.85 inches. Diameter measurements were inconclusive. Pests ate more leaves on control plants without Mycorrhizae. Largest leaf was on plant with Mycorhizae measuring 3 inches in length. Conclusions/Discussion The plants on which Mycorrhizal fungi were applied grew .75 inches taller in height than the control plants without fungi. The plants with Mycorrhizae were more resistant to pests. I conclude that Mycorrhizal fungi create larger, more pest resistant plants organically and naturally without the use of artifical fertilizers, chemical pesticides, or genetically modified plant genes by surrounding and protecting the roots from foreign invaders and by increasing root surface area for greater water absorption. Mycorhizae is a fungus that has been stripped from the soil by over-cultivation and commercial and residential development and has great advantages for the earth and the future of food production when placed back into the ecosystem.

Summary statement

Mycorrhizal fungi, which has been stripped from most soils of the earth, can increase plant growth and pest resistance organically without toxic chemicals, greening up the planet by restoring soil to its natural state.

Help received

Mother helped create Excel graphs and take photos. The Eagan's of Plant Revolution provided background research, product design ideas, and mycorrhizae to test. Father helped pick out and purchase materials. Sister helped clean pots for photos.

Competition history

  • CSEF 2011 Plant Biology · Entry J1914

Resources

Related projects

Closest projects by meaning, across every fair and year in the corpus.

Browse more like this

Source: California Science & Engineering Fair public projects

Save projects to your library

Sign in with Google to keep track of projects you find interesting, organized into folders. An account also raises your daily allowance for “Has this been done?”, and lets you create a key for the MCP server with a much higher limit than anonymous use. Browsing stays public.

Continue with Google