The Rubus 1 group was crippled on Christmas Eve by slime moulds which drained the nutrients from the soil, withering the leaves and leaving them with blackened stems. There's nothing I can do within the parameters of the experiment to revive them, but nor do I want to let them die. For the purposes of the experiment, the Rubus 1 cohort is "dead". If I keep them in the experiment then they'll die anyway, so it all comes to the same as far as the experiments are concerned. I'll give them some intensive care, maybe I'll try using a UV lamp to nuke the fungus, but anything I do to correct this will mean they cannot be admitted to the study from this point on.
No other plants moved up a rounding bound over Christmas.
Friday 28 December 2012
Thursday 20 December 2012
Monday 17 December 2012
More on Bella
I was wrong in my previous update. I saw that Bella had rotated and jumped to the conclusion that it would carry on rotating. Oops. This morning I found Bella pointing back into the house again:-
It seems that Bella still rotates a third of a turn clockwise each day then resets at night, as per any Northern plant (plants from below the Equator rotate anti-clockwise). This pattern of rotation hasn't changed, only because the curve of the plant has been deliberately turned toward the pole, Bella now rotates to point away from Sol instead of towards Sol. Funny old world. So I haven't yet established if phototropism will beat heliotropism in getting a bramble to point at the Sun, all I've done thus far is to mess about with Bella's heliotropic behaviour.
Still, it's interesting to know.
It seems that Bella still rotates a third of a turn clockwise each day then resets at night, as per any Northern plant (plants from below the Equator rotate anti-clockwise). This pattern of rotation hasn't changed, only because the curve of the plant has been deliberately turned toward the pole, Bella now rotates to point away from Sol instead of towards Sol. Funny old world. So I haven't yet established if phototropism will beat heliotropism in getting a bramble to point at the Sun, all I've done thus far is to mess about with Bella's heliotropic behaviour.
Still, it's interesting to know.
Friday 14 December 2012
Some early results
The week's numbers are up on their respective pages. Jake is pretty much dead. Growth was seen in Bella and Rosie, whilst Tiny 1 has shrank. Tiny group aren't doing well, which I suspect is due to the lack of direct sunlight. Milo and Doodle have shoots of 2cm apiece, and those shoots are showing tiny leaves. That Rosie has grown in the week since going outside is pretty awesome. Fizz is turning very green at the tip. It seems that maybe a purple shoot transplanted without roots to a sunny spot turns green to make the most of the Sun. Any further growth by Fizz will require sugars made in the green parts of the plant.
Bella has rotated. Alas, stupid me didn't get a top-down photo of Bella and Jake at the start of the experiment, which means I can't now measure how many degrees Bella has rotated by. I can show you the face-on pic from the start though, which shows Bella to be pointing a scant few degrees anticlockwise of the centre of the label. Today Bella is pointing approx. 45ยบ clockwise of the centre of the label. That's a big difference. Also, Bella has not gotten any straighter.
What Bella's rotation means in the grand scheme of things is unclear. If Jake hadn't died then I could say that, with cuttings of this species, under these conditions, heliotropism beats phototropism. As it happens, this result is only borne out in 50% of my sample. I cannot say what Jake might've done because Jake didn't do anything. I can say that there is an isolated instance where, with cuttings of this species under these conditions, heliotropism has beaten phototropism; but I cannot claim evidence of a general tendency within R. fruticosus without further evidence. The behaviour of Bella is exciting though, as it suggests that I'm fishing where the fish are. I guess we know the shape of Rubus 4...
I'm going to throw some pictures at you now.
Bella has rotated. Alas, stupid me didn't get a top-down photo of Bella and Jake at the start of the experiment, which means I can't now measure how many degrees Bella has rotated by. I can show you the face-on pic from the start though, which shows Bella to be pointing a scant few degrees anticlockwise of the centre of the label. Today Bella is pointing approx. 45ยบ clockwise of the centre of the label. That's a big difference. Also, Bella has not gotten any straighter.
What Bella's rotation means in the grand scheme of things is unclear. If Jake hadn't died then I could say that, with cuttings of this species, under these conditions, heliotropism beats phototropism. As it happens, this result is only borne out in 50% of my sample. I cannot say what Jake might've done because Jake didn't do anything. I can say that there is an isolated instance where, with cuttings of this species under these conditions, heliotropism has beaten phototropism; but I cannot claim evidence of a general tendency within R. fruticosus without further evidence. The behaviour of Bella is exciting though, as it suggests that I'm fishing where the fish are. I guess we know the shape of Rubus 4...
I'm going to throw some pictures at you now.
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| Bella |
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| Milo |
 |
| Doodle |
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| Tiny Group |
Wednesday 5 December 2012
Rosie and Jim go outside, and Rubus 1 developments.
Rosie and Jim have gone out back, onto a structure in my garden known as The Strawbrary.
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| Rosie in the red pot on the left, Jim in the purple pot on the right. |
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| Rubus 1 cohort |
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| Milo |
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| Fizz |
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| Jake |
Tuesday 4 December 2012
The last meal
All the plants got a treat today in the form of some 4:2:6 in their water. For Rosie and Jim however, this'll be the last input they get from me. Tomorrow they'll have to face December outside.
Wednesday 28 November 2012
28/11/2012 Data
Numbers are in.
The numbers are in centimetres, but plants don't grow by whole centimetres at a time. Thus the numbers refer to "rounding bounds", wherein a plant listed as 12cm could be anything from 115mm to 124mm, and once it reaches 125mm it is listed as being 13cms. Statisticians might be better able to explain this than me.
With the exception of Tiny2, all the plants appear to be growing. However, the only plants which have moved up to a new rounding bound this week are Milo and Tom1. Data is in the group pages. I'll update the measurements page when Rosie and Jim go outside.
J
The numbers are in centimetres, but plants don't grow by whole centimetres at a time. Thus the numbers refer to "rounding bounds", wherein a plant listed as 12cm could be anything from 115mm to 124mm, and once it reaches 125mm it is listed as being 13cms. Statisticians might be better able to explain this than me.
With the exception of Tiny2, all the plants appear to be growing. However, the only plants which have moved up to a new rounding bound this week are Milo and Tom1. Data is in the group pages. I'll update the measurements page when Rosie and Jim go outside.
J
Sunday 25 November 2012
Brilliant news
The bud on the top of Tilly 2 has erupted into what is the start of being a small shoot of its own! A plant which was starved of nutrients and water might have difficulty bringing a bud to shoot, so this suggests that I haven't pointlessly killed thirteen shoots from my bramble. Biology has its nasty side - a natural consequence of experimenting on live organisms - so it's always nice when you can see that the experiment is definitely going to go forward without any unnecessary suffering or death.
Pics of the bud will be posted here just as soon as I find my camera.
Pics of the bud will be posted here just as soon as I find my camera.
Saturday 24 November 2012
Ohnoes! Aphids!
This is a quandary.
If I let the aphids proceed then the experiment goes.
If I kill the aphids then I'm intervening in a way that I hadn't planned for.
Should I just get in a ton of ladybirds and let nature take its course?
Answers on a postcard, folks.
If I let the aphids proceed then the experiment goes.
If I kill the aphids then I'm intervening in a way that I hadn't planned for.
Should I just get in a ton of ladybirds and let nature take its course?
Answers on a postcard, folks.
Friday 23 November 2012
On the primary DV
So why length? Why not dry mass?
The answer is simple: I'm starting with cuttings, not seeds.
Seeds are fairly uniform things anyway, and the size of a seed as variable is as nothing to overall growth when compared with the variable of quality of the growth medium. A small acorn in rich soil will grow a bigger tree in a given amount of time than a big acorn in clay.
Cuttings are different. They aren't very uniform in starting size and also they are from established plants. They have stem structures in place like cambium and xylem. Some may even have lignified or lignifying cores. That difference can have a far more tangible effect on the outcome than the size of a seed.
If Fizz and Doodle grow at the same rate then Fizz will still be bigger than Doodle. If they grow proportionate to their starting size then Fizz will end up significantly bigger than Doodle. What is needed therefore is a starting measurement which is capable of being compared with the final measurement. To record the dry mass is to kill the specimen entirely. I cannot do that at the start for then there would be no experiment. The ashes of dead plants don't conveniently grow into new plants so that you can cremate them again in three months' time.
Dry mass is more accurate, more scientific, but it cannot be used in this instance. Length therefore is a useful proxy for how much mass the plant is accruing.
The answer is simple: I'm starting with cuttings, not seeds.
Seeds are fairly uniform things anyway, and the size of a seed as variable is as nothing to overall growth when compared with the variable of quality of the growth medium. A small acorn in rich soil will grow a bigger tree in a given amount of time than a big acorn in clay.
Cuttings are different. They aren't very uniform in starting size and also they are from established plants. They have stem structures in place like cambium and xylem. Some may even have lignified or lignifying cores. That difference can have a far more tangible effect on the outcome than the size of a seed.
If Fizz and Doodle grow at the same rate then Fizz will still be bigger than Doodle. If they grow proportionate to their starting size then Fizz will end up significantly bigger than Doodle. What is needed therefore is a starting measurement which is capable of being compared with the final measurement. To record the dry mass is to kill the specimen entirely. I cannot do that at the start for then there would be no experiment. The ashes of dead plants don't conveniently grow into new plants so that you can cremate them again in three months' time.
Dry mass is more accurate, more scientific, but it cannot be used in this instance. Length therefore is a useful proxy for how much mass the plant is accruing.
Thursday 22 November 2012
On watering
A bit last-minute, but it occurs to me that these experiments need a watering scheme for the indoor plants. I've already decided on pro re nata - or when the plants need it - but even then there's a decision to be made: PRN per plant, PRN per group, or PRN globally?
I've decided on globally. That means that when I decide (completely arbitrarily) that enough of the indoor plants need watering then all will be watered. If too few are in need of water then none shall be watered. I reckon this approach should strike a balance between taking care of the needs of indoor plants and a perceived need to mimic the behaviour of rain in nature, which doesn't much care about the watering needs of an individual plant.
This will take effect after the fortnight's run-in. There's no point in abusing the shoots before they've put out roots or else they'll all fail.
I've decided on globally. That means that when I decide (completely arbitrarily) that enough of the indoor plants need watering then all will be watered. If too few are in need of water then none shall be watered. I reckon this approach should strike a balance between taking care of the needs of indoor plants and a perceived need to mimic the behaviour of rain in nature, which doesn't much care about the watering needs of an individual plant.
This will take effect after the fortnight's run-in. There's no point in abusing the shoots before they've put out roots or else they'll all fail.
Wednesday 21 November 2012
Rubus 1, 2 and 3 start today!
All the shoots are potted, fed and measured. They'll be fed again on the 4th of December, then Rubus 3 will go outdoors on the 5th of December.
They've been measured. Projection (the length of the shoot from where it leaves the soil to its tip) will be the primary Dependent Variable, or DV. The DV is my measure of success. If the projection of plant A increases by more than the projection of plant B then plant A is more successful with regards to the DV of projection. Other DVs are yellowing (or lack of), shrivelling (or lack of) and budding (or lack of). The number of buds is less important than whether or not the plant shows a failure to bud, as a failure to bud is a failure to thrive. Yellowing and shrivelling also suggest a failure to thrive, so the areas affected by these problems are less important than their simple presence or absence. The only DV which will be measured rather than merely observed will be projection.
Measurements are to be recorded on each of the group pages and together on the Measurements page.
Observations and measurements will be taken every Wednesday until March. All the indoor plants will receive water pro re nata and subsequent feeds on the 1st of January and the 1st of February. Also, as I only have so many saucers in my dinner service, I've replaced the saucers under Rubus 1 with plastic saucers from the garden centre. The same type have gone under Rubus 1 and 2. Those only involved in Rubus 1 have black saucers, while those involved in Rubus 2 (including Milo and Doodle) have green saucers.
They've been measured. Projection (the length of the shoot from where it leaves the soil to its tip) will be the primary Dependent Variable, or DV. The DV is my measure of success. If the projection of plant A increases by more than the projection of plant B then plant A is more successful with regards to the DV of projection. Other DVs are yellowing (or lack of), shrivelling (or lack of) and budding (or lack of). The number of buds is less important than whether or not the plant shows a failure to bud, as a failure to bud is a failure to thrive. Yellowing and shrivelling also suggest a failure to thrive, so the areas affected by these problems are less important than their simple presence or absence. The only DV which will be measured rather than merely observed will be projection.
Measurements are to be recorded on each of the group pages and together on the Measurements page.
Observations and measurements will be taken every Wednesday until March. All the indoor plants will receive water pro re nata and subsequent feeds on the 1st of January and the 1st of February. Also, as I only have so many saucers in my dinner service, I've replaced the saucers under Rubus 1 with plastic saucers from the garden centre. The same type have gone under Rubus 1 and 2. Those only involved in Rubus 1 have black saucers, while those involved in Rubus 2 (including Milo and Doodle) have green saucers.
Monday 19 November 2012
The Beginning
Welcome to the official blog of the Rubus Experiments. Setup is continuing as we speak, and photos will be up in the next few days.
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