Investigation into aspect of plant physiology

[Lysis]

Ello there,

I have a task in which I have to investigate an aspect of plant growth relating to agriculture in Australia and then formulate a research question. Once I have identified the issue I will have to make a recommendation on how to solve the problem or at least improve it. I have looked into a research question surrounding the effects of gibberellic acid but that seems a little too complex. It can’t be too complex since yeah I am only in year 11 so no super hard stuff and we only have 3 weeks to grow the plants although we can get fully grown plants if necessary. Also the thing I am investigating needs to have significant previous research so I can point to some secondary data during my discussion. The school can get their hands on pretty decent equipment but obviously not super expensive university tech. I also need to make my own experiment to test the research question so yeah it needs to be testable

Things I have investigated myself:

Humidity - Hard to regulate and then there also isn't much secondary data on that
Photoperiodism - Hard to regulate and I'm only at school for 5 hours so I can only really regulate it for 5 hours unless I take the plants home with me in which case I can’t regulate them for the 5 hours I am at school.
Wind - Not significant secondary data

Things that can’t be done because they have already been given to us by the teacher (obviously the research doesn't have to be original but it just can’t be something that I have been given by the teacher, I need to formulate it myself)

*fruit ripening at different times
*fruit ripening speed when stored with other fruits
*Effect of salinity on plants
*Effect of light colour on plants
*Effect of light strength on plants


Anybody have any ideas?
P.S I'm not being lazy I have been looking for something to investigate for ages!

[JackBean]

so these
*fruit ripening at different times
*fruit ripening speed when stored with other fruits
*Effect of salinity on plants
*Effect of light colour on plants
*Effect of light strength on plants
cannot be used? Too bad, there could be several topics...

Anyway, how is it that you cannot regulate humidity and photoperiodism?
For humidity you can water your plants with exact volume of water and maybe even close them somewhere.
As for photoperiodism, do you think you need to stand above the plant and hold the bulb to be sure it!s lightning? Just take some room, where you're sure nobody's going too often and which has no windows (or you can seal them), put in light with timing. The photoperiodism requires at least 12 hours long periods anyway...

[Lysis]

Just take some room, where you're sure nobody's going too often and which has no windows (or you can seal them), put in light with timing. The photoperiodism requires at least 12 hours long periods anyway...

Hello, thank you for the reply

So if I was doing photoperiodism would my research question be something like: "What is the optimum photoperiod to induce flowering in //que fast growing Australian plant//?"

Which plant would I use though since tomatoes have like that day neutral thing where their flowering isn't affected by day length but by like nutrient levels and stuff. In addition to this three is the issue of secondary data??? And then how is the complexity of the biology surrounding this?

Regards
Mark

[Lysis]

Well turns out the photoperiod thing can’t be done since the school can’t get the equipment needed. So that leaves me back at square one with no ideas. I really just can’t think of anything to do for this silly thing! Any ideas would be appreciated.

[JackBean]

What's so special you need for photoperiodims? Just light bulb, power cabel and some timer.

[Lysis]

I checked with my mum and she said that it would be alright for me to just buy the equipment required myself Can I just use any light source I want or does it need to be one of those grow light things? And is it okay if I use a plant like straberries since they grow pretty fast and they are obligate?

[JackBean]

I don't know, what lights are available in Australia. The old light bulbs would not be suitable because they produce considerable amount of heat. Keep it in mind unless you want to burn your plants. So, if your light produces some heat, you should keep it in some distance from your plant (but on the other hand you may not need to heat the room anymore:).
Also, the spectra of the light may not be suitable. The modern lights look like white, but their light spectrum is discreet.