Heuchera Leaf Cutting Experiment

Posted: November 26th, 2013

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Heuchera Leaf Cutting Experiment

Key Words: Heuchera, leaf size, root size, propagation, humidity, petiole

Introduction

The Heuchera plant contains a varied number of species, with the known number being fifty. The plants are propagated in humid areas, especially within the July and August periods. The leaf and root size majorly depends on the soil type, with the alkaline type being the most productive. Heuchera plants need a lot of sunshine for the budding process and therefore propagation of the plants in cool regions leads to poor leaf size (Bird 147). Interestingly, Heuchera plants are usually grown from leaf cuttings. In this experiment, we will outline the process and experiments needed for a successful propagation of the same. Varying the above named requirements like the soil type, lighting and level of humidity has actually been noted to offer varied results as measured by the root length and leaf size. We will set up various experiments with varying requirements to investigate the importance of the mentioned conditions.

Methods and materials

A set of hypothesis will be used in this study, with the null hypothesis stating that there lacks a notable difference in the plant measurements while the alternative hypothesis will state that notable differences a re noted in the plant measurements. The procedure followed in the experiment will require several plant cuttings that should be handled with precautions like the application of clean cutting instruments to ensure no contamination occurs (Cullina 20). The cutting instruments have to be well sharpened since blunt tools lead to force application and consequently tissue damaging that affects the growth process. We will use a single petiole for experiment standardization, and this will be divided according to the number of experiments to be conducted. All cuttings will be coated with a rooting concentrate before being stored on a mist bench that will ensure humidity is accorded equally to all the cuttings. A combination of peat and perlite will be provided in equal proportions to the plants for the necessary nutrients and no watering will be given to the plants.

After the initial sprouting, the plants will be ready for transfer to the experiment pots that will have the varied conditions. Note that, initial recording will be taken during the transfer in terms of leaf length and the root size for the purposes of comparison. Ensure that each plant pot is well labeled for identification purposes with the given conditions noted for each plant. Only one of the experiments will contain the alkaline soil type, right level of humidity, and optimal lighting, which are the three most important conditions for healthy propagation. The other containers will contain basic and alkaline soils, varied lighting ranging from medium lighting to total darkness, and varied humidity with extremely high humid levels and low humid levels. Ensure that the transferring process is executed gently to prevent root damage (Schmid 58). For experiment standardization, the plants have to be transferred within the same environment as this ensures equal environmental conditions.

As the plants are relocated from the mist premise, watering has to be observed twice on a daily basis. This should be in the early part of the morning and the late evening when there is minimal evaporation and transpiration for increased water retention. Upon the lapse of the experiment period, each plant has top be measured in terms of its leaf size, root numbers and the size. Data analysis will be conducted in terms of comparisons between the optimally nourished plant and the control experiments. This will accord supported conclusions within the empirical experiments.

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