Principles of Crop Science

(CRSCI 1100)

Plant Environment

(Experiment 1. Light, Soil, Water, and Air – Basic

Requirements for Plant Growth)

A laboratory requirement presented to administrators

November 2023
Table 1. Plant height
No. of day Plant height (cm)
(s) Condition 1 Condition 2 Condition 3 Condition 4
4 14.1 14 23 13
5 14.27 14.17 23.5 13.2
6 14.30 14.33 24.17 13.8
7 14.50 14.83 25 13.8
8 14.73 15.43 25.5 14
9 15.07 15.83 26.28 14.2
10 15.17 16.33 26.83 14.5

Figure 1. Line graph for plant height

Chart Title
30

25

20

15

10

0
Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day10

Condition 1 Condition 2 ondition 3 Condition 4

The Table 1 and Figure 1 shows that the plant under

condition 1 or control treatment with soil, air, light, and
water is the third tallest plant with a height of 15.17 cm on
the 10th day. All the basic requirement of a plant is present
in this type of condition; it has soil, air, light, and water
therefore it is capable of growing properly since all the
basic requirements needed by the plant are present (Barman et
al., 2006). Sunlight is usually the one responsible for plant
height. Montgomery explained that if sunlight is directly on
top of the plant and no other obstacles that promote shading
of light, the plant will grow vertically upright and will not
experience phototropism, “a plant’s ability to reorient organ
growth toward (positive phototropism) or away (negative
phototropism) from a directional light source” (Holland et
al., 2009). This Phototropic response encourages elongation of
stem.

It can be also seen in the Table 1 that the mungbean

plant under condition 2 with soil, light, and water but
limited air has a plant height of 16.33 cm. Absence or lack of
air to plants indeed affects the growth rhythm of plants. It
is consistent with the study of Abdella et al. (2018), Based
on the result of their experiment, Seeds immersed in water-
containing nanobubbles (NBs) showed a 6–25% increase in
germination rates. Nitrogen NBs had notable effects on seed
germination, while air and carbon dioxide NBs did not
significantly enhance germination. Additionally, the growth of
stem length, stem diameter, leaf number, and leaf width was
promoted by NBs, excluding air. The study of Ford and Thorne
(1974) also supported that the amount of air affects plant
growth. According to the result of their experiment, raising
the humidity levels in growth rooms led to improved sugar beet
growth in four separate experiments. Furthermore, they added
that the amount of water lost per plant was influenced by the
air's vapor pressure deficit, leaf area, and species; wind
speed had only a minor impact on it.

Moreover, the Table 1 shows that the mungbean plant under

condition 3 with soil, air, and water but there is an absence
of light is the tallest plant among the 4 conditions as it has
a length of 26.83 cm. This result happened because of the
phenomenon called etiolation. Algiers et al. (2022) explained
that the dark-grown plant is considered to be etiolated, a
botanical phenomenon wherein the plant experiences excessive
shoot elongation and chlorosis perhaps due to either lack of
light or growth hormones (Gould, 2009). Moreover, plants in
direct light usually have three short nodes and in the bottom
part, the cotyledons were attached. However, plants in dark
condition are much taller due to the reason that its
internodes are greatly elongated. In line with this, Rachael
(2023) explained that the hormone “auxin” which is located
within the cells at the tip of the stem of plant plays an
important role in the control of plant growth. Plant cells
that receive not much light tend to possess increased levels
of auxin which enables the plants in shaded environment to
further grow or elongate more compared to plants in direct
sunlight.

Lastly, both the Table 1 and Figure 1 show that the

mungbean plant under condition 4 with soil, light, and air but
without the presence of water is the shortest in terms of
plant height as it has a length of 14.5 cm. This result
occurred because lack of water typically inhibits the growth
of plant. Kramer (1963) supported this claim as he stated that
water stress such as loss of water or absence of water
directly controls the plant growth. “Water stress or drought
is one of the consequences of erratic rainfall and becomes a
constraint to the plants, both wild species as well as crop
plants. Moreover, most soil has a variable wettability
resulting in a heterogeneous moisture profile following
precipitation or irrigation (Kar, 2011).”

In conclusion, the results showed that mungbean plant’s

plant growth is indeed altered by missing basic requirements
of the plant. Each plant under specific conditions have their
own botanical characteristics.
Table 2. Dry weight
No. of Dry weight (g)
samples:10 Condition 1 Condition 2 Condition 3 Condition 4
Average 1.3 g 0.8 g 0.5 g 0.1 g
weight of
plants

Figure 2. Bar graph for dry weight

Dry weight of plants (g)

1.4

1.2

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
Condition 1 Condition 2 Condition 3 Condition 4

Dry weight of plants (g)

The Table 2 and Figure 2 show that mungbean plant under

condition 1 with soil, air, light, and water expressed a dry
weight of 1.3 g, mungbean plant under condition 2 with soil,
light, and water but with only limited air expressed a dry
weight of 0.8 g, mungbean plant under condition 3 with soil,
air, and water but no light expressed a dry weight of 0.5 g,
and lastly, mungbean plant under condition 4 with soil, light,
and air but with no water expressed a dry weight of 0.1 g.
With analyzation, the data interpret that the condition one is
the heaviest in terms of dry weight. Measuring the dry weight
offers an accurate assessment of the amount of biomass
(Patrick et al., 2003). Heavier dry weight basically means
increased in biomass and therefore, it means that the plant
under condition one received optimal growing conditions.
“Plants that experience optimal growing conditions, including
adequate light, temperature, water, and nutrients, are likely
to exhibit increased biomass. Favorable conditions support
efficient photosynthesis and overall plant development” (Taiz
et al., 2010). Campbell et al. (2008) also explained that even
though dry weight does not directly measure the efficiency of
photosynthesis of plants, higher dry weight often interpreted
successful rate of photosynthesis.

In conclusion, the heavier the mungbean plant’s dry

weight, the better the crop is. In line with this, the
mungbean plant under condition 1 is considered to be the most
successful plant because it has heaviest dry weight with 1.3 g
perhaps due to the presence of all plant’s basic requirement
namely, soil, air, light, and water.
 References

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Willenburg, K. T., & Coats, D. R. (2014). Phototropism:
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https://www.jstor.org/stable/4451935

Ahmed, A. K. A., Shi, X., Hua, L., Manzueta, L., Qing, W.,
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