FERTILIZER AND ITS EFFECTS ON CORN PLANTS

By
Amy Kratzer

April 25, 2016

BIO 123 Plant Project Lab Report
Jon Larsen, Lab Instructor
Introduction

Fertilizer and Its Effects on Corn Plants

Fertilizer is a substance that is used for its plant nutrients in order to promote
plant growth (MDARD, 2016). It will be the factor tested in this experiment. The
objective is to determine if fertilizer actually works the way it is marketed to work: easy
and miraculous.
Fertilizer is categorized according to its contents into two groups, organic and
inorganic. Organic fertilizer is classified as a substance derived directly from a plant
and/or animal source. For example, a compost of vegetable matter and manure is
considered an organic fertilizer. Inorganic fertilizer is defined as a substance
manufactured using industrial processes. For example, a substance synthetically made to
have fixed percentages of nitrogen, phosphate and phosphorus is considered an inorganic
fertilizer (Buma, 1977).
Many people argue that one type of fertilizer is better than the other, but research
has yet to prove either of these arguments. Organic and inorganic fertilizers have
advantages and disadvantages to them. Organic fertilizers are composed of renewable
resources that are supplied indefinitely. However, inorganic fertilizers are commonly
composed of nonrenewable resources, like fossil fuels, and have limited supply on Earth.
Inorganic fertilizers act fast and the amount of nutrients fed to plants is always known.
On the other hand, organic fertilizers have a slow-release of nutrients to the soil and the
amount cannot be determined (Day, 2008).
Organic and inorganic fertilizers differ in there interaction with a plant. Organic
fertilizers feed the soil the plant is in with nutrients. Then, the microorganisms use the
nutrients in the soil to make plant nutrients. Inorganic fertilizers feed the plant directly.

Fertilizer and Its Effects on Corn Plants

Therefore, problems arise from over fertilization that can ultimately kill the plant when
using inorganic fertilizer (Milorganite, 2016).
It is hypothesized that plants will grow to be taller with the addition of fertilizer to
their diet because it contains important nutrients the plant may be deficient in.

Materials and Methods

To begin, fill some small plant pots three-fourths of the way with potting soil. Be
sure the potting soil does not contain any fertilizer. Next, add two corn seeds to each pot.
Only one plant is needed for each pot, but planting two seeds is beneficial in case one
seed does not germinate. If both seeds germinate, remove one so there only one plant is
present.
Succeeding, label half of the pots as experimental and half as control. Completely
soak the soil inside the pots with tap water. For the next two weeks, water the plants
twice a week and do not perform tests. This ensures that the plants germinate prior to
applying the experimental procedure.
In preparation for the tests, make a fertilizer-infused water. Follow directions on
the fertilizer product of choice. For example, mix one tablespoon of fertilizer per gallon
of water.
On the third week, add fertilizer-infused water to the experimental pots. This is
the experimental group. Then, add water to the control pots. This is the control group.
Repeat these steps twice a week.

Fertilizer and Its Effects on Corn Plants

Throughout the experiment, record the changes in height of the plants from week
to week. When the experiment is completed, remove plants from soil and weigh them on
a balance in grams. These recordings help to test the hypothesis.

Results
Figure 1: Plants 1-4 at week 5. Left plants are part of the experimental group, where as
the right plants are part of the control group. Note the loss of pigmentation on the tips of
the plants in the experimental group.

Figure 2: Plants 1-4 at week 9. There is a distinct difference between the experimental
group (left plants) and the control group (right plants).

Fertilizer and Its Effects on Corn Plants

Figure 3: Visual of the healthy, branched roots of a corn plant. Picture is taken of plant 4.
Table 1: Weekly height of plants. Plants 1 & 2 were the experimental group (contain
fertilizer). Plants #3 & #4 were the control group (contain no fertilizer).

Height (cm)
Week

Plant #1

Plant #2

Plant #3

Plant #4

1.51

3.76

1.62

1.06

7.78

10.49

6.12

6.18

13.61

15.72

12.93

16.73

13.59

15.99

18.22

29.95

13.56

15.63

22.13

43.18

DEAD

DEAD

27.42

55.61

DEAD

DEAD

36.21

63.42

Table 2: Mass in grams and appearance of roots after removing plant from soil.
Procedure was done at the very end of experiment.
5

Fertilizer and Its Effects on Corn Plants

Plant #1

Plant #2

Plant #3

Plant #4

Mass

0.05 g

0.08 g

4.02 g

8.78 g

Roots?

None

None

Healthy

Healthy

Graph 1: Comparison of plant heights over 9 weeks. Week 5 shows to be a pivotal point
for all plants. Plants 1 & 2 begin to demise while Plants 3 & 4 continue to grow.

Discussion
The hypothesis, which stated that fertilizer would increase the growth of plants,
was not supported by this experiment.
One possible explanation for this outcome is over fertilization. The fertilizer used
in the experiment was Miracle-Gro, an inorganic fertilizer. A danger with inorganic
fertilizer is the possibility of adding too much that the reverse outcome happens. When
too much fertilizer is added to a plant, the water evaporates and the mineral salts are left
6

Fertilizer and Its Effects on Corn Plants

behind. The salts alter the pH of the soil and affect the osmosis of the plant cells at the
roots (Smith, 2013).
At the roots, water diffuses into the soil to create a hypertonic solution. Plant cells
desire to be at a slightly hypotonic solution called turgid. This imbalance causes the cells
to die. When the root cells die, the plant cannot receive the nutrients it needs so the entire
plant eventually dies.
When taking a measure of the roots at the end of the experiment, it was
discovered that the experimental plants had little to no roots. The stems were completely
dried up and out of air. These results agree with a pH change in the soil.
From this experiment, it can be concluded that fertilizer is a very complex and
tricky thing. Television advertisements depict fertilizer as a very simple application to
create beautiful and lushes gardens. However, this experiment showed that it is not as
easy and miraculous as it seems.
Literature on inorganic fertilizer and over fertilization has concluded similar
findings. If I were to perform this experiment again, I would test an organic fertilizer as
well as an inorganic fertilizer to see if any differences would occur.

References

Fertilizer and Its Effects on Corn Plants

Buma, Donald Ralph. Container Plants: A Comparison of Organic and Inorganic
Fertilizers. Thesis. University of Delaware, 1977. Newark, DE: Longwood
Program, 1977. Print.
Day, Julie. "Pros and Cons of Organic vs. Chemical Fertilizers." Today's Homeowners.
Danny Lipford Media, 2015. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.
"Fertilizer Definitions." Michigan Government. MDARD, 2016. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.
"Organic vs. Synthetic Fertilizers." Milorganite. Milorganite, 2016. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.
Roozeboom, Kraig, and Aaron Sindelar. "Corn Growth & Development." Department of
Agronomy. Kansas State University, 2016. Print.
Smith, Kit. "The Perils of Over-Fertilizing Plants and Trees." University of California
Cooperative Extension. 2016. Web. 23 Apr. 2016