Sunday, April 30, 2006

 

Plant #28

I have been tracking the development of #28 with one photo every day so we can watch one of them grow. I picked #28 just because it was young, and easy to get photos of without much interference from other things.

<--- The first photo here to the left was taken on the 25th, just after watering, as can be seen by the water drop lounging around.


---> The photo to the right is the day after. "Grown-up" leaves have come up out of the protection of the cot leaves. I should probably look up all the real, scientific names for all of these things and use those. But this works just as well for now. You can see the tiny little teeth present on the adult leaves. Nifty, isn't it?


<--- This is after another day passed, on Thursday the 27th. Not a whole lot of change. The cot leaves opened a little more and the adults began opening up, too. Not sure why the leaf curved over like that.








---> And this Friday, the 28th, this is what #28 looked like.
The leaves are opening and growing. He's acquired a little tag to keep him company. As well, during this period, he is growing, obviously. He leans a bit towards the light, however, because he's on the edge. This should be remedied soon when we adjust the growing station to allow for the fact that many of the plants are too tall to remain where they are.

I'm really rather proud of all my little buggers. Especially since the majority are less than a month old. Today is the day that plant #9 and plant #10 are one month exactly. Happy, err...sproutday! This of course would be much more reliable if I could monitor the plants over the weekends and breaks, too. As it is, I believe that over the first weekend in April, there were no less than eight sprouted before I arrived that Monday morning. But I am a student, and I seriously doubt I could talk anyone into giving me a key so I could check them over the weekend. Perhaps next year, when I am a senior and the new principal and assistant principal have had more time to know my character.

This is an overview of my little forest as of Friday:

I really need to learn to stop taking those on an angle. The good news is that I am now entirely up-to-date on the data. Every post now will be new data and photos.

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

 

Further D&O

This data picks up at Tuesday, April 4th. I hope to be all caught up with the little buggers by the end of this posting so I can really get to all the good stuff. Enjoy!

Tue. 4/4: Plant #1 is most decidedly dead. Poor little guy. #2, on the other hand, is doing well even after its uprooting, as are all the others. Two new sprouts.
Leaves of some of the larger plants beginning to look like apple leaves.
#1:N/D
#2:5.1 cm
#34.9 cm
#46.9 cm
#54.9 cm
#66.5 cm
#76.3 cm
#85.4 cm
#94.3 cm
#101.5 cm
#110.8 cm
#122.1 cm
#132.1 cm
#143.0 cm
#154.0 cm
#161.1 cm
#171.9 cm
#183.2 cm
#190.7 cm
#20

2.7 cm

#21*

0.9 cm

#22*

2.6 cm


Wed. 4/5: 1 new sprout found while watering. Most plants thriving. #3 was bent or something, will probably die.
#1:N/D
#2:5.0 cm
#3N/D
#47.9 cm
#55.1 cm
#67.1 cm
#76.7 cm
#86.0 cm
#94.5 cm
#102.6 cm
#111.5 cm
#123.9 cm
#132.8 cm
#144.0 cm
#154.2 cm
#162.4 cm
#172.3 cm
#184.0 cm
#192.1 cm
#20

3.6 cm

#21

2.0 cm

#22

3.6 cm

#23new

Thu. 4/6: 1 new sprout. Many getting "real" leaves. Some stems very thick.
#1:N/D
#2:5.1 cm
#3N/D
#49.0 cm
#55.4 cm
#67.9 cm
#77.3 cm
#86.3 cm
#94.5 cm
#103.7 cm
#111.6 cm
#125.0 cm
#133.7 cm
#144.6 cm
#154.4 cm
#163.0 cm
#172.6 cm
#184.5 cm
#192.9 cm
#20

4.6 cm

#21

3.0 cm

#22

3.7 cm

#231.5 cm
#24new

Fri. 4/7: Leaves rather large on plants #4 and 6. Seem to be the best plants so far. Mr. Forbush will be taking them home over Spring Break. 1 new sprout.
#1:N/D
#2:5.3 cm
#3N/D
#49.1 cm
#55.6 cm
#68.1 cm
#77.5 cm
#86.6 cm
#94.9 cm
#104.0 cm
#112.0 cm
#125.7 cm
#133.6 cm
#145.8 cm
#155.5 cm
#163.2 cm
#174.0 cm
#185.3 cm
#193.3 cm
#20

5.9 cm

#21

4.0 cm

#22

3.7 cm

#232.4 cm
#241.7 cm
#25new

Tue. 4/18: Back from break. 2 new sprouts. All plants are huge! Will begin taking photos soon, too. Go l'il guys, go!
#1:N/D
#2:5.6 cm
#3N/D
#410.4 cm
#54.5 cm
#69.0 cm
#77.4 cm
#89.0 cm
#95.9 cm
#106.0 cm
#113.0 cm
#126.9 cm
#134.9 cm
#147.0 cm
#155.9 cm
#165.2 cm
#174.5 cm
#186.7 cm
#196.6 cm
#20

6.2 cm

#21

6.0 cm

#22

6.8 cm

#235.5 cm
#244.8 cm
#253.0 cm
#261.5 cm
#270.4 cm

Wed. 4/19: No new sprouts. Used wetness-thing to check if getting enough. High score in the sections still waiting for germination. Woo!
#1:N/D
#2:6.0 cm
#3N/D
#410.5 cm
#54.9 cm
#610.5 cm
#76.9 cm
#89.0 cm
#96.8 cm
#106.8 cm
#112.6 cm
#127.8 cm
#135.7 cm
#149.1 cm
#158.1 cm
#167.3 cm
#175.2 cm
#187.0 cm
#196.8 cm
#20

7.0 cm

#21

6.7 cm

#22

6.9 cm

#236.0 cm
#247.3 cm
#253.2 cm
#262.0 cm
#270.5 cm

Thu. 4/20: 2 new sprouts.
#1:N/D
#2:6.1 cm
#3N/D
#411.9 cm
#54.5 cm
#611.0 cm
#79.0 cm
#810.2 cm
#98.0 cm
#107.3 cm
#113.5 cm
#128.5 cm
#136.2 cm
#1410.1 cm
#158.4 cm
#167.4 cm
#175.4 cm
#188.0 cm
#197.9 cm
#20

7.7 cm

#21

8.7 cm

#22

6.0 cm

#237.2 cm
#246.8 cm
#253.2 cm
#263.5 cm
#270.7 cm
#28new
#29new

Fri. 4/21: Developing distinct leaf shapes now. Some round and fat, some long and thin, some darker, some developing lobes.
Put timer on to turn off light from 12-6 AM. Felt like a total moron when I discovered in sixth hour that I hadn't gotten data for plant #19. Crap.
#1:N/D
#2:6.2 cm
#3N/D
#412.7 cm
#54.5 cm
#611.5 cm
#79.0 cm
#810.5 cm
#98.0 cm
#109.0 cm
#113.5 cm
#129.1 cm
#136.6 cm
#1410.4 cm
#159.4 cm
#168.1 cm
#176.5 cm
#189.0 cm
#19N/D*
#20

9.0 cm

#21

7.9 cm

#22

8.7 cm

#237.4 cm
#247.3 cm
#253.2 cm
#264.3 cm
#271.5 cm
#281.1 cm
#290.3 cm

Mon. 4/24: #5 has died. Not a clue why. The following photos are of the baby, plant #27, and a current forest view as it sits on the growing station.

#1:N/D
#2:8.0 cm
#3N/D
#414.0 cm
#5N/D
#611.7 cm
#710.3 cm
#811.5 cm
#98.0 cm
#1010.5 cm
#114.0 cm
#1210.0 cm
#137.3 cm
#1412.4 cm
#1511.4 cm
#1612.2 cm
#177.6 cm
#1810.2 cm
#1911.7 cm
#20

11.0 cm

#21

9.0 cm

#22

9.4 cm

#2310.1 cm
#249.0 cm
#254.0 cm
#266.0 cm
#272.1 cm
#284.4 cm
#293.5 cm

Tue. 4/25: Cot leaves withering on #17, 4, and 23.
#8 has a small third cot leaf. Some leaves have spots, perhaps from water/light damage somehow.
Should bring in toothpicks labeled by # for easy ID in pictures.
#19 has one very distinct lobed spot.
#1:N/D
#2:9.1 cm
#3N/D
#414.0 cm
#5N/D
#612.6 cm
#711.0 cm
#811.8 cm
#98.7 cm
#1010.5 cm
#115.1 cm
#1210.2 cm
#138.3 cm
#1413.3 cm
#1511.4 cm
#1612.7 cm
#177.9 cm
#1810.6 cm
#1912.9 cm
#20

11.8 cm

#21

9.0 cm

#22

10.4 cm

#2310.7 cm
#249.0 cm
#255.3 cm
#266.4 cm
#272.3 cm
#284.5 cm
#294.1 cm

Wed. 4/26: Haven't had new sprouts in a while. Cot leaves withering on #s 4, 17, 23, 2. Curious if any more will pop up and surprise us after all.
#1:N/D
#2:9.8 cm
#3N/D
#414.3 cm
#5N/D
#613.5 cm
#712.5 cm
#813.6 cm
#910.1 cm
#1012.4 cm
#115.0 cm
#1210.5 cm
#138.5 cm
#1414.3 cm
#1511.2 cm
#1613.5 cm
#178.5 cm
#1810.9 cm
#1914.0 cm
#20

12.0 cm

#21

10.6 cm

#22

11.0 cm

#2311.5 cm
#249.8 cm
#256.1 cm
#266.6 cm
#272.4 cm
#286.2 cm
#294.0 cm

Thu. 4/27: Nothing to report. Probably time to turn them again so the ones on the edges can straighten out. Am photo-tracking the development of plant #28.
Holy crap, I was wrong! There's another sprout! First one in over a week. Discovered while watering.
#1:N/D
#2:10.0 cm
#3N/D
#414.5 cm
#5N/D
#614.0 cm
#712.5 cm
#813.8 cm
#911.0 cm
#1012.5 cm
#115.3 cm
#1211.0 cm
#138.8 cm
#1414.5 cm
#1511.4 cm
#1614.7 cm
#178.6 cm
#1811.7 cm
#1914.5 cm
#20

12.1 cm

#21

11.0 cm

#22

11.3 cm

#2312.0 cm
#2410.9 cm
#256.3 cm
#266.7 cm
#272.5 cm
#287.1 cm
#294.5 cm
#30new

Fri. 4/28: Tagging plants with labels so I don't need the map, and for photo ID. Cot leaves withering on more plants, falling off others.
#1:N/D
#2:10.5 cm
#3N/D
#414.6 cm
#5N/D
#614.7 cm
#712.6 cm
#812.7 cm
#911.0 cm
#1012.3 cm
#114.5 cm
#1211.2 cm
#139.0 cm
#1414.8 cm
#1512.1 cm
#1615.2 cm
#179.3 cm
#1812.5 cm
#1915.4 cm
#20

12.3 cm

#21

12.0 cm

#22

11.8 cm

#2312.9 cm
#2411.8 cm
#256.7 cm
#266.8 cm
#272.5 cm
#286.8 cm
#294.8 cm
#300.3 cm

I will be trying to get some charts up in the next few so that one needn't bother one's eyes with these awful tables. Current-day tables will continue to appear, however. One at a time, I hope.


Monday, April 24, 2006

 

Data and Observations

This is the data and the observations gathered so far on the applets, starting with Day 1, the planting, and ending for now at Monday, April 3rd, as quoted or paraphrased from my Official Apple Notes. (Ok, so right now they have their home in my dark-blue ZoBot notebook, but still...)

Monday, 3/20: 126 seeds planted and soaked with water. Seeds were previously frozen for approximately three weeks in Mr. Forbush's freezer and set out for about a week to "defrost." Will record more when and if sprouts appear. According to some plant forums and sources online, it is next to worthless to plant seeds from store apples, as they are difficult to grow and unlikely to produce desireable fruit. But we'll see.

Monday, 3/27: 2 sprouts found, possible third. Locations mapped in grid drawn in notebook for future reference. Seeds will be numbered in order of appearance or discovery and marked on map.

Tuesday, 3/28: Sprout #2 taking off like crazy. Height table is as follows for today:

#1:0.6 cm
#2:2 cm


Wedensday, 3/28: Four more sprouts confirmed.

#1:0.6 cm
#2:3.1 cm
#3new
#4new
#5new
#6new


Thursday, 3/30: #2 was accidentally uprooted in a class following mine. #1 is struggling. 4 sprouts discovered. May be more tomorrow/over the weekend. Doing better than expected for germinating already.

#1:0.6 cm
#2:3.4 cm
#30.8 cm
#42.2 cm
#51.9 cm
#61.0 cm
#71.5 cm
#80.1 cm
#9new
#10new


Fri. 3/31: Two more sprouts discovered during watering. Some plants are really growing, others struggling. #1 may not make it. Watered really well for weekend, as they will be left in the classroom without anyone to water them.

#1:N/D
#2:3.7 cm
#32.0 cm
#43.1 cm
#52.8 cm
#62.0 cm
#71.5 cm
#80.1 cm
#9insig.
#10insig.
#11new
#12new


Mon. 4/3: Eight new sprouts. Eight!! #1 still struggling. #4 really growing well. Much, much more successful than expected so far. Turned planter so plants wouldn't lean towards "sun."

#1:N/D cm
#2:4.5 cm
#33.5 cm
#46.0 cm
#54.3 cm
#65.8 cm
#75.0 cm
#84.3 cm
#93.0 cm
#10insig.
#11insig.
#123.0 cm
#13*1.0 cm
#14*1.0 cm
#15*2.8 cm
#16*0.7 cm
#17*1.5 cm
#18*2.6 cm
#19*0.7 cm
#20*1.7 cm


****************************************************
(New info on the applets, 4/24 and on to date of publication)

There is a spot on one of the plants. It looks like it may be an area that might have been damaged by light magnified or whatever by a water droplet. It is only showing up on this one plant though, and only on the one leaf. I hope it isn't any sort of disease. As much as this is a scientific experiment, I cannot help but be attached to these little guys.
I am trying to get the data in here at least in some sort of table, preferably one table with all the dates, all the plant #s, and all their individual info to catch myself up, but I haven't got the patience as of yet to be messing with that much html right now. At least, as far as I can see it. If someone out there has a better way to do this, please share! I welcome any tips you may have. This annoying format that will continue, old stuff with new stuff under a "********" line, is what I will have to use until I get everything up. I apologize. I hate the coding I did use. It's a huge pain. And thus, I got bored and stopped about a third of the way through the old data before continuing down here.

Sunday, April 23, 2006

 

Leaf Shapes

There is some of my little forest. They are coming up on being a month old, many of them. We are still getting new sprouts, but not on the daily basis they used to be. The official population of the planter-thing is 29 which have sprouted, and three which have died.

This past Friday, the 21st, I noticed that the plants are developing some distinct leaf shapes.
Short n' Fat! Woo! Some of the leaves are fat and roundish like this one, seen on plant #18, at right. Others are long and thin, like Willow leaves, as on plant #8, to your left now.. Compare to the leaf shape seen in the same photo, the slight hearts on plant #15, in the upper right of the photo.

This may suggest that I will be getting a few different varieties of apple when and if these eventually produce fruit. Further research on the subject will tell me that much, at least. It really is rather interesting to be seeing this little population grow and all the variety in the same bag of grocery apples!

Then there are some with distinct lobing developing. Plant #6, here, one of the plants doing quite well, also has deeper veins than the others.


The cotlydon leaves are still on most of the plants, modeled here by plant #24. It is obvious in all the applets which leaves are their "baby leaves," as they are smooth and flat and rounded rather than "toothy" as the adult leaves are. The baby leaves are also considerably thicker than the adult leaves to the touch.

Plants #6 and #4 have both been doing exceptionally well from the start. They are significantly larger than the others already and seem to be very, very healthy.

The next entry will start the record of observations and data to date.

So far, only three plants of 29 sprouted have died, plants #1, #3, and #5 have all died by the date of this posting. #1 just never grew, #3 was bent over by unknown causes, possibly some moron in a Biology class following my hour, and #5 looked unhealthy for a few weeks, as if underwatered, though it recieved the same watering as all the others.


Saturday, April 08, 2006

 

Testing

Just checking up on a couple things. Want to see if this works

Did you know that the study of apple trees and such is called pomology? Go figure.

J'adore les pommes, especialment mes petits applets.

So then, let's take up some more space, shall we?

Eventually, I will replace the header up there with a blurred-up photo of my little applets, like a mini forest view ^_^. Yeah, this looks professional now, doesn't it?
But it is, after all, just a test, and something to show the instructor and perhaps the counselor if need be when I change my courses. Gonna drop crucial issues, I think. Perhaps a semester of it, and creative writing instead. Whatever. I'll have to go back and check what I actually signed up for when we get back off Spring Break.

Friday, April 07, 2006

 

Beginnings

This is the start of the record of my continuing Botany IS at school. We began with apple seeds we're sprouting, so this will start out as a record of that experiment and likely be mostly that. Not right now, though. Later. Think I should show my instructor first and get his approval. It was, after all, his suggestion that I make a webpage for it.

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